<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, that\u2019s what, for me, is really killing cycling, is these points,\u201d Matthews said. For him, the issue extends far beyond relegation battles or calendar pressure. It is about what success now looks like inside teams, and how that success is pursued.<\/p>\n
When incentives stop matching the spectacle<\/p>\n
Matthews is careful to draw a distinction between effort and outcome. He does not suggest teams are trying less. He suggests they are being pushed to try differently. \u201cYou see so many teams now, not just Astana, but a lot of teams setting up their roster now to have as many as they can racing each other, and how does that make a team environment?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The shift, as Matthews describes it, is subtle but profound. Ambition becomes measurable through accumulation rather than intent. \u201cTheir goal now is to have as many in the top ten,\u201d he said, outlining a version of racing where collecting places can matter as much as hunting victories.<\/p>\n
For Matthews, the real damage is done in how that plays out for fans trying to understand the sport. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to make fans of cycling understand that it\u2019s a team sport, but then you see in a finish three sprinters from the same team sprinting against each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His conclusion is unambiguous. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s destroying cycling. I totally disagree with this 100%.\u201d<\/p>\n
The criticism lands squarely within the framework overseen by the UCI, but Matthews\u2019 concern is broader than regulation alone. It is about the erosion of shared purpose inside teams, driven by incentives that increasingly reward internal competition.<\/p>\n
Why sprinting no longer looks like sprinting<\/p>\n
That same shift, Matthews believes, is visible in how races themselves are decided. \u201cThese days, sprinting is not really like that anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rather than being a test of pure speed, modern sprints are increasingly shaped by survival, positioning, and who remains capable after harder and more aggressively raced days. \u201cFor me to win a sprint\u2026 I need to be the fittest guy at the finish of a harder group,\u201d Matthews explained.<\/p>\n
He is candid about his own limitations. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna win a bunch sprint, let\u2019s say, against the Philipsens and these sorts of guys,\u201d he said, referencing riders like Jasper Philipsen. His pathway to results now runs through attrition rather than outright pace.<\/p>\n
Matthews also admits he has little affection left for traditional mass sprints. \u201cI honestly just don\u2019t really like the bunch sprints anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to have a strong lead out\u2026 otherwise you\u2019re just in the washing machine\u2026 and it\u2019s just chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his view, the disappearance of the pure sprinter is not accidental. \u201cEveryone sort of learnt that being a pure sprinter these days is sort of a dying sort of breed,\u201d he said, pointing to the rise of more durable sprint types and fewer straightforward sprint opportunities.<\/p>\n
Dominance that does not need to announce itself<\/p>\n
Beyond structure and tactics, Matthews also touched on a psychological shift that he believes now defines racing at the highest level.<\/p>\n
Riding alongside the sport\u2019s dominant figures brings a different kind of pressure, one that is not always expressed through attacks or accelerations. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t even care that I\u2019m here, so he doesn\u2019t even consider me as a factor,\u201d Matthews said, describing what it feels like when favourites rotate through decisive moves without even acknowledging those around them. \u201cI\u2019m not even gonna look at you because I don\u2019t even consider you a threat.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sense of hierarchy, he suggested, is reinforced long before the flag drops. Training data shared publicly by riders such as Tadej Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel, and Wout van Aert becomes part motivation and part message. \u201cThey use that as extra boost for themselves, but also to show the other guys, like, \u2018I\u2019m flying,\u2019\u201d Matthews said.<\/p>\n
Matthews\u2019 comments do not read as nostalgia or resistance to change. They read as an adaptation. A rider explaining how the ground beneath the peloton has shifted, and why thriving now requires a different approach, even when that approach is shaped by incentives he fundamentally disagrees with.<\/p>\n
His verdict is stark, but it is also revealing. Modern cycling, as Matthews sees it, is not being distorted by a lack of effort or ambition. It is being reshaped by what the sport now chooses to reward, and by the quiet consequences that follow from that choice.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cHonestly, that\u2019s what, for me, is really killing cycling, is these points,\u201d Matthews said. For him, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,145857,82,130310],"class_list":{"0":"post-461555","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-sports","13":"tag-team-jayco-alula"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461555","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=461555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}