Matthews hits back at a critic on Instagram after the World Championships: 'Not sure what race you watched, mate'

As usual, the stars of the World Championships gathered on Instagram to share their reactions after a fantastic World Championships. Pidcock captioned his World Championships photos: “I left everything on the road.” Matthews sent a telling little flame emoji. The Australian saw how Pidcock went at it like a man possessed last Sunday.

Matthews himself came away from the World Championships with a silver medal. That was an incredibly impressive achievement, considering that, going into the race, most of the attention had been focused on the climbers and, perhaps, the exceptionally strong classics specialists. Matthews, however, had another one of those incredible days, the kind with which he has made a big impression many times throughout his career.

"Quebec and Montreal (Canada) have been great to me over the years. The experience I gained here helped me immensely today in knowing where to conserve and use my energy," he said during a press conference after the World Championships. Regarding his decisions during the race, Matthews said, "It was difficult to launch a second attack or start a chase."

Still, just like Pidcock, the Australian tried to break away several times in an attempt to catch up to Brandon McNulty. A comment on Instagram therefore rubbed Matthews the wrong way. "You always rode in the wheel, you never attacked or proposed anything, you're a second-rate rider” wrote a certain Horacio Lopez.

"Not sure what race you watched mate," Matthews began his response. "Sorry if i didn’t attack enough to make you satisfied but I can assure you i did and I’m very proud of my ride." In an analysis of the decisive 22.2 kilometers of the World Championships, you can see that Matthews did indeed play an aggressive role.