Matthews once again criticizes jury decision Tour of Flanders, seeks sporting vengeance in Amstel Gold Race

We had the opportunity to speak with Bling before the Flèche Brabançonne, where he eventually finished eighth. He tells us that the Amstel Gold Race is his favorite spring classic. "That's still true. I had my first date with my current wife in Limburg. So for us, that race is very special," says the 33-year-old Matthews. "She will be there again this year to support me. Hopefully, that will give me an extra boost and will make that dream a reality, after I've been close many times but haven't yet won."

"So emotionally, it is definitely the most important goal of the spring, and physically, it's one of the most important," Matthews concludes, also admitting that after all those classics - he was second in Milan-San Remo, for example - he has become quite tired. "I'm pretty tired after all these races, both mentally and physically. After the Amstel Gold Race, I'm supposed to ride the Flèche Wallonne. After that, there will be a rest period. I really need that after this accumulation of fatigue. Hopefully, I can hold out a bit longer over the next week and a half."

According to Matthews, combining cobbled classics and hill classics is a craft in itself, something that is really difficult these days. "Especially since nowadays, every race is ridden full throttle. It used to be different. I just really enjoy racing and being with the team. That's why I decided to race as much as possible. Luckily, things went very well in the past few months."

The man from Canberra is clearly a lover of the sport. His performances this year were also 'simply' up to par, with a second place in La Primavera and a third place in the Tour of Flanders. There, however, he was demoted in the standings due to an incorrect sprint. "The jury once again proved they're not consistent," teammate Dylan Groenewegen previously told our website. Matthews himself admitted that he understandably struggled with the decision for a while. "Of course, I had to accept the jury's decision, although I clearly disagreed. Then you have to focus on what comes next. But I am not a sprinter who takes many risks and makes dangerous maneuvers in the final. I am convinced of that. Unfortunately, it is what it is."

"Still, I won't soon forget that moment," he continued. "It was a day when many dreams seemed to come true, even though it wasn't about the win. Things just went really well that day. It took a while mentally to get over it, but I have turned the page now. Is this one of my best springs ever? You could say that. Milan-Sanremo and the Tour of Flanders were my main goals. I finished on the podium in both races, although that one podium finish in Belgium was of course taken from me. But I can certainly speak of a successful spring. Everything that follows now is a nice bonus. I'll take it race by race. Hopefully, I still have the legs. We'll see if skipping Paris-Roubaix pays off."

His team certainly has a lot of confidence in Matthews. "Michael is our leader, that's clear. He is in very good form and has finished the cobbled classics in good shape, so we fully focus our team around him," team director Pieter Weening said when the septet was announced. IDLProCycling.com also spoke with Jan Maas about it. The ever-sympathetic Dutchman, a North Brabant native, is one of Matthews's lieutenants in the upcoming races.

"I feel quite good. These weeks are very important for me, everything up until Liège-Bastogne-Liège is. We are riding the hill classics with a very good team, so that's great. Michael is a good leader and he is in great shape, so it's my job to support him as well and as long as possible," says the 28-year-old Dutchman. "Bling isn't riding Liège, but there we have Simon Yates as leader. I expect a lot from him too. In those races, my role will definitely be clear. It's either to lead or help the leader in some other way."

Maas essentially rules out going for personal success beforehand. "That's not very realistic. But I must say that I am very satisfied with my form this year, except for a small setback at the end of the Tour of Catalonia. I did something too crazy in training in Spain. I was too excited preparing for these classics. And apparently, you can also overtrain. I caught myself doing that. But so far, it's going well. The team is satisfied."

Maas expects a lot from team leader Matthews, who will once again take on world champion Mathieu van der Poel in the South Limburg hills. "Given his current form, he is certainly capable of podium finishes. What Mathieu does or does not do, we of course have no control over. He is an exceptional figure. Sometimes it's like he has three legs, let's put it that way," jokes the Dutchman from West Brabant, who has trained with MVDP regularly over the past few years. "Our last training session together was a while ago. Sometimes I was travelling, then he was. We really need to plan that again soon!"