Two years ago, he finished seventh in tough World Championships, but he hasn't raced for Picnic PostNL in 22 months: how is Matt doing?

Dinham, born in South Africa, joined dsm-firmenich PostNL in 2023 from the Australian Bridgelane team, after finishing eleventh in the Tour de l'Avenir, among other achievements. In his first year with the Dutch team, he was immediately allowed to ride the Tour de France, followed two weeks later by the World Championships in Glasgow.

Dinham was part of the early breakaway in that race and held his own in the final in a group that included Van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Tadej Pogacar, Stefan Küng, Jasper Stuyven, Toms Skujins, Tiesj Benoot, and Alberto Bettiol. All of them are world-class riders in one-day races.

After that World Championship, Dinham finished in the top ten of the Arctic Race of Norway and the Tour of Croatia, but his last completed race was the Tour of Lombardy on October 7, 2023. In 2024, he did record a DNF in both Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Flèche Wallonne, but that was it.

Dinham himself announced the reason for his absence just over a year ago. "Just a quick update for those wondering why I've been quiet in 2024. At the end of last year, I suffered a stress fracture in my foot, and it's been a tough few months on the rollercoaster of recovery that inevitably comes with these injuries.

“I'm making progress every day, I've become ‘best friends’ with my physical therapist, Vince, and I know it's only a matter of time before I'm back on the starting line,” he wrote in July 2024. However, it's now been over a year, and Dinham has yet to appear at the starting line...

However, Picnic PostNL extended his contract in October by at least three seasons until the end of 2027. “Matt has really impressed us since he joined the team, both in terms of his skills on the bike and his attitude off it; he is always willing to learn from those around him, whether that's from our staff or the other riders,” said Rudi Kemna on behalf of the team.

“In 2023, he showed that he is a talented climber, and he also has some excellent positioning skills in the peloton, which seem to come naturally to him. Of course, he has had a tough season this year with injuries, but we are working hard together so that he can make a good comeback in the peloton, and from there we hope to continue to make progress together.” “The extended contract has given me the certainty that I can make my comeback in the best possible way,” Dinham himself said.

Well, if we go by Dinham's Strava in 2025, things seem to be moving forward again. From March to July, it was very quiet, but in recent weeks, he has been completing his daily training sessions again. Let's hope that this will lead to an excellent comeback for the man who showed such potential two years ago!