During a thirty-minute press conference Michael Matthews (Australia) could be seen staring into the distance, no doubt playing the sprint over again and again in his mind as he battled to understand what went wrong at the UCI Road World Championships.
The Australian finished third behind Peter Sagan (Slovakia) and Alexander Kristoff (Norway) after admitting to making several mistakes at key points in the race. As he sat there, listening in as a flurry of questions were softly tossed in Sagan’s direction, Matthews was no doubt wondering just how and if he can end Sagan’s run at the Worlds.
“I’m happy to be on the podium but it was the wrong step,” Matthews had told Cyclingnews as he made his way through the post-race mixed zone.
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A bronze was clearly of little consolation for the Tour de France’s green jersey winner. Rather than blame others, Matthews pointed to mistakes he’d made on the final climb on Salmon Hill, where instead of sitting on the wheels he tried to match and follow several moves. While Sagan and Kristoff gambled on the sprint, Matthews thought he could play his hand earlier.
“I jumped a lot with guys attacking but they were never really going anywhere. The bunch was still too big and I wasted energy from doing that. Sagan was still sitting back in the bunch and gambling on it coming back together. Maybe that’s what I should have done too. There’s nothing I can do now, I guess.”
That said, Matthews was still in contention for the rainbow jersey when the attacks were neutralized and a group of 26 hurtled towards the line. Chaotic would be one way to describe the finale as the remaining sprinters volleyed off each other as they looked for the best lines through the final corners.
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