{"id":330951,"date":"2025-12-07T20:11:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T20:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/330951\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T20:11:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T20:11:11","slug":"doctors-said-if-id-kept-training-i-would-have-killed-myself-within-two-days-michael-matthews-ready-for-rebirth-of-his-career-in-2026-after-near-death-scare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/330951\/","title":{"rendered":"“Doctors said if I’d kept training, I would have killed myself within two days” \u2013 Michael Matthews ready for rebirth of his career in 2026 after near-death scare"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nThe shock of the diagnosis forced him out of the Tour de France and wiped out his mid-season goals<\/a>, but the experience has reshaped his mindset entirely. Rather than retreat from the sport, he says the fear has instead sharpened his motivation. \u201cI feel like it’s a second opportunity for me in cycling because I realised my career could have been done,\u201d he explained. \u201cI feel it’s a second chance for me to show what I’m really, really capable of.\u201dA second youth at 35Matthews, who extended his contract with Team Jayco AlUla<\/a> through to the end of 2027, insists he feels younger now than he has in years \u2014 and that the scare has only deepened his love for the daily grind of training and racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still feel like I’m 25 and I’m enjoying my second youth,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m still attacking my teammates out in training, and I’m normally the one that wants to do the extra training. The motivation is definitely still there, and I’ve a massive smile on my face every time I get up in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

He attributes part of his longevity to lifestyle choices that have kept him fresher than many of his generation. \u201cI don’t drink, and I don’t party. I don’t do any of the stuff that probably ages you faster than normal,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe that’s helped me to stay young and means I’m still able to compete with these young talents coming through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite being forced into three months of blood-thinning medication and a careful return to riding, Matthews still salvaged a competitive late-season run. He made his comeback at the Bretagne Classic, finished eighth in the sprint, then raced all the way through to the Japan Cup. He also claimed a second rainbow jersey with Australia in the Mixed Relay team time trial at the World Championships. \u201cI was just so happy to pin a number on again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"luke<\/p>\n

Matthews (R), Luke Plapp (L) & Jay Vine (M) were the men’s half of Australia’s\u00a0Mixed Relay team time trial at the World Championships<\/p>\n

Big Classics ambition and the long-standing Milan\u2013San Remo frustration<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Matthews will follow a European build-up rather than travelling home for the Tour Down Under, with a full run at the Classics \u2014 from Milano\u2013Sanremo to Liege\u2013Bastogne\u2013Liege \u2014 forming the heart of his 2026 plan. The Tour de France remains a major objective, and the Montreal World Championships in September are a significant target given his past success in Canada.<\/p>\n

But Milano\u2013Sanremo, the race that has both defined and tormented him, is again his first big goal. \u201cI suppose I have a love-hate relationship with Milano-Sanremo<\/a>,\u201d he admitted. \u201cIt’s obviously a race that suits me, and it’s obviously a race that I’ve done well in the past, but it’s been cruel to me too. You just need your cards to fall in the right way, it’s quite a lottery, but it has never gone my way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The race has become even tougher with the more aggressive approach from UAE Team Emirates – XRG in recent years, spearheaded by his regular training companion Tadej Pogacar. \u201cIt’s become more of an attacking race where it used to be a sprinter’s race, but there’s nothing I can do about that,\u201d he said. \u201cI have to make sure that I’m ready to go when the attacks happen, react to the situation and hopefully somehow finish it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA rebirth\u201d and a rider who feels nowhere near finished<\/p>\n

For Matthews, the trauma of last June has not created fear \u2014 it has given him clarity. He is not counting the years to retirement, nor rushing to put an end date on anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe health problems I had this year were obviously a massive scare, but at the same time, I feel like they’ve given me a second chance in cycling,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like it’s a rebirth of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as he puts in long efforts at Team Jayco AlUla\u2019s December camp \u2014 \u201cDecember is like the old January; we’re already doing threshold efforts\u201d \u2014 his message is simple: he\u2019s still smiling, still competitive, and still convinced there is more to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe off-season went really well,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it’s probably the best I felt in December, so hopefully there are good things to come this year.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The shock of the diagnosis forced him out of the Tour de France and wiped out his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,145857,128988,82,130310],"class_list":{"0":"post-330951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-michael-matthews","12":"tag-milano-sanremo","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-team-jayco-alula"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}