Matthews reveals Pogacar’s private support after crash: ‘He contacted me almost every day’

Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) was forced to miss the spring Classics after suffering a serious training crash at the start of March, which left him with multiple injuries, including fracturing both his wrists.

While Matthews was unable to race, he watched from home as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) produced what he described as “one of the performances of the century” in Milan-San Remo. 

The World Champion crashed on the approach to the Cipressa, but returned in time for the climb, launching an attack only Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) could match. Van der Poel would be distanced on the Poggio before Pogačar outsprinted Pidcock on the Via Roma to claim an elusive victory at San Remo.

Speaking after the race, Pogačar had revealed that Matthews came into his thoughts immediately after his crash and fuelled his motivation to get back to the front in time for the decisive Cipressa ascent.

“In moments like that, a lot goes through your head,” Pogačar said of his crash before the Cipressa. “At first I thought I would just go straight on at the Cipressa and take the cycle path into Sanremo, but then I thought about Bling [Michael Matthews]. He could not race here because he crashed here while preparing for his favourite race.”

Speaking to Wielerflits in the Alpecin Barbershop, Matthews said that his close friend Pogačar had remained in close contact throughout his recovery, providing encouragement and motivation during a difficult period.

“Yeah, I didn't want to [watch Milan-San Remo]. But thankfully, my good mate Tadej was doing really well, so I mean it was nice to watch him put on a show. And he was really supportive through my whole recovery, contacting me almost every day.”

The Australian admitted that watching the Classics from the sidelines was difficult, though he enjoyed Pogačar’s performances, some of which he had an influence on from a distance.

“And he [Pogačar] basically said, ‘Oh, when should I attack in [Milan] Sanremo and [Tour of] Flanders and Strade [Bianche]? And I was like, ‘I think the TV comes on around this time.’ He's like, ‘Oh, okay, I'll attack here,’” said Matthews. 

“And he actually did and won, so that was pretty cool. It definitely made it more interesting to watch, that's for sure. But a bit sad at the same time because as much as it was nice to watch, obviously you want to be there yourself.”

Matthews has a wealth of experience when it comes to Milan-Sanremo, having raced the Italian Monument twelve times previously, finishing runner up in 2024, third in 2015 and 2020, and in the top 10 in seven editions in total. This experience made Pogačar’s performance even more mind blowing to Matthews, who knows how difficult the finale of Sanremo is to master. 

“It's a full-on bunch sprint into the bottom of Cipressa. So honestly, knowing that race and having done it so many times, I think that's probably one of the most impressive things I've seen in cycling to be able to come back and still do the performance that he did on Cipressa,” said Matthews.

“Honestly, knowing what it's like to be in that situation, even in the peloton, let alone being at the back and still dominating the way he did was mind-blowing. And I think that's one of the performances of the century, honestly, I think.”