Michael Matthews finishes as Australia's best at Elite Men's Road World Championships

Michael Matthews (ACT) has finished the 2021 UCI Road World Championships Men Elite Road Race as Australia’s highest and only finisher in 25th place.

The 31-year-old Canberran had hoped to make it a birthday to remember at Flanders 2021, but an attacking onslaught from eventual race winner Julian Alaphilippe (France) proved unmatchable on the day.

Matthews found himself in a group 30-seconds in arrears of Alaphilippe following the final ascent of the Bekestraat on the Flandrien circuit, which proved to be a decisive moment of the race.

The Canberran duly surged up the final passing of the Smeysberg in an attempt to bridge the gap to the lead group, however at the same time, Alaphilippe accelerated at the head of the race rendering Matthews’ bridging effort unrewarded.

Matthews was visibly disappointed when he crossed the line, lamenting what could have been on a day in which he said he had “good legs”.

“I guess I was hoping that some of the bigger teams missed it, but unfortunately everyone was there,” he said.

“Some smaller teams tried it and I tried to work together to get back across, but we were just getting marked out by Belgium, Italy, and France. It is what it is.

“I’m not exactly sure what happened to all the (Australian) guys but they were out quite early, which wasn’t the plan unfortunately.

“We wanted to try and keep as many guys for the key final as possible, (for) positioning into that cobbled climb where the split happened, and I don’t think I was too badly positioned but probably three of four riders too far back to make the front split.

“I actually felt super good, that’s why I’m really disappointed right now.”

Australia started the day brightly with Nathan Haas (ACT) slotting into the second breakaway of the day, in a strong group that contained the likes of Belgian Remco Evenepoel, Denmark’s Kasper Asgreen and Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic.

Robert Stannard (NSW) soon found himself in the next group up the road with 90km to go, but he too would fall off the pack due to the relentless tempo being set at the front of the race on the final Flandrien circuit.

Caleb Ewan’s (NSW) day would end with 73km to go with cramps after riding diligently at the front of the peloton for much of the race once it entered Leuven.

Australian Cycling Team Elite Road Coordinator Rory Sutherland said the result was not one the team had hoped for.

“The guys did the job they were asked to do and we were always represented in the dangerous moves in the first 200km of the race,” he said.

“At the end, Michael missed the decisive split and with the composition of nations at the front, it was impossible to come back again.

“Tonight we will have a look at what went well and what didn’t go well and then we will have an idea of where we are at at the moment and what we need to do in order to improve for the future.”

Pictures: UCI/SWpix and Getty