Australian Michael Matthews will make his return to racing alongside a stacked Team Jayco AlUla squad at the Bretagne Classic – Ouest-France.

The 34-year-old was ruled out of the Tour de France after discovering signs of a pulmonary embolism back in June, but the former Plouay winner will make his comeback to action this weekend in France.

The team head into the tough one-day race armed with options and talent, including double Swiss champion Mauro Schmid and Italian champion Filippo Conca.

Fast finishing German Felix Engelhardt adds more strength, while three more Italians make up the seven-rider line-up with the punchy Davide De Pretto, experienced Alessandro De Marchi and the attacking Filippo Zana all in action.

Team Jayco AlUla:
Filippo Conca (ITA)
Alessandro De Marchi (ITA)
Davide De Pretto (ITA
Felix Engelhardt (GER)
Michael Matthews (AUS)
Mauro Schmid (SUI)
Filippo Zana (ITA)

Michael Matthews:
“I’m really looking forward to pinning a number on again and getting out there with my teammates. These last few months have been tough, but I’m ready and excited to get back racing again.

It is also special to be returning to a race that I have good memories of after my win back in 2020. I’ve also had some other good results here in my career and it’s a race that suits me well.

We have a strong team with a few options that we can play, so I’m excited to be back and to finish the season on a high with these next few races.”

Pieter Weening (Sport Director):
“We have a nice team Plouay and it’s good to have Michael back after his injury. We will see how far he can get into the final, but I’m quite confident Michael is going to be good, he’s a real professional athlete. On the other hand, it’s his first race back and it’s a long race, 260km with almost a little more than 4800 altitude metres, so it’s also going to be a hard race for him.

Then for the others we have Mauro there who can go after a result, and also Felix and Zana, this is also a race that suits these guys. In the end we will try to be there with as many as guys as possible in the final and we just want to race.

In the end it’s going to be an honest race, it’s a real hard race so if you want to end up in the final and you want to make a result that means first of all you need to have the legs. It’s a pure honest race.”

Bretagne Classic – Ouest-France – Race Details:
Sun, 31st Aug, Plouay – Plouay (261.7km)

Photo: Sprint Cycling