Michael Matthews Expresses Gratitude to Tadej Pogačar

Michael Matthews received a lot of support from Tadej Pogačar during his time in hospital last season. In an interview with Cyclingflash.com the Australian explains that the multiple Tour de France winner and double world champion was a close contact after signs of a pulmonary embolism in Matthews' lungs were discovered.

In mid-June, news broke that Michael Matthews had been found to have signs of a pulmonary embolism. The Jayco AlUla rider had to put his career on hold and missed the Tour de France. He spent several days in hospital and didn't know if he was ever going to ride a bike again. In that insecure period, his Monaco friend Tadej Pogačar kept contact with Matthews. "Yeah, he was good."

"I mean, he had his goals which were the Tour de France", pointing at the summer period of the 2025 season. "And he was still messaging me every few days. He kept asking how I was going, which is quite special. There's not too many guys of his level that are still worrying about what is going on in my life."

'I did not know if I would be back here'

The recovery of Matthews went pretty fast, because in late August he made his comeback with a bang in the Bretagne Classic, where he finished eighth. The final part of the season was highlighted by good results in the GP de Québec (9th), Coppa Bernocchi (5th), Gran Piemonte (5th) and a golden Mixed Team Relay medal with the Australian team at the World Championships.

"It is a blessing to be racing on the bike again. Those first few weeks and months I did not know if I would be back here", Matthews told Cyclingflash.com. "It's definitely something that I thought was gone, to compete with WorldTour riders."

Physically the battle was tough, but for Matthews his mental fight was more difficult, he explains. "The body had the problem that while resting, I didn't feel it too much. It was only really when you were exercising that you really felt the out-of-breath feeling and the stabbing in the chest."

"Probably the hardest part for me was watching the Tour de France knowing that I couldn't be there, knowing that I was taking blood thinners to try and survive", he can now laugh.