Michael Matthews couldn't ask for more from teammate's Tour de France stage win after two years of misfortune

Jayco AlUla was among the many teams that had yet to win a stage in this Tour de France, but that changed on Friday. Mauro Schmid took the victory after executing a textbook tactical move in the 57-rider breakaway. Michael Matthews was also in that group and played a key role as well, which he discussed afterward.

"It was grueling," he panted to Eurosport. "We weren't exactly lucky from the start, but at least Mauro was well positioned in a large group of more than thirty riders. That was after about twenty or thirty kilometers into the stage. We thought it was a great situation, but there were simply too many riders in the group to leave Mauro there on his own.”

"When it opened up again back there, the three of us—Plappie, Benno (O'Connor, ed.), and I—rushed over. We wanted to make sure we had the strongest possible representation at the front. And yeah, what more could you ask for? We finished it off fantastically,” said the Aussie.

Matthews himself has won several stages in the Tour de France, so he knows what a victory like this means. “We’ve been waiting for this for so long. We have an incredibly strong team here with so many great riders who are perfectly suited for these kinds of stages. I’m truly incredibly proud that Mauro pulled it off for us.”

"This is what we've been looking for right from the start. In the early stages, maybe one person would have a good day and the rest would have a bad one, but today everyone was in top form. This is what we were looking for and what we’ve worked so hard for,” continued the team leader, who has also been through his share of challenges in recent years.

Last year, he suffered a potentially life-threatening pulmonary embolism, and this spring he collided with a truck, resulting in a double wrist fracture. “For me personally, it’s great to be back at this level and racing against the best riders in the world, especially after everything I’ve been through over the past two years.”

"I really can't ask any more of you right now. I've worked so hard to get to this point. The fact that I'm racing here again, seeing a teammate win a stage, and maybe even having a shot at a stage win myself... Well, what more could you want?” concludes the visibly moved puncher.