Le Québec lui va si bien... Pas forcément très brillant depuis sa 2e place sur Milan-San Remo début mars, Michael Matthews a enfin retrouvé des couleurs ce vendredi soir sur SA course fétiche, le Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec ! Déjà vainqueur en 2018 et 2019 et toujours dans le top 5 depuis 2015, l'Australien a de nouveau montré qu'il était le patron de l'épreuve Canadienne en devançant en costaud Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) et Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) à l'issue du traditionnel sprint final en faux plat montant qui lui convient si bien. Deuxième victoire de la saison pour "Bling" et premier bouquet en WorldTour depuis le Giro 2023. "Ce fut une journée difficile", a-t-il déclaré en interview d'après-course au moment de revenir sur le déroulé de la course.
Vidéo : @GPCQM
Vidéo : @GPCQM
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SportTranscription
00:00To give him his trophy, the mayor of Quebec, Mr. Bruno Marchand.
00:18And the return of the bouquet of flowers by Sandrine, Michael Mathews, who points to the sky for his grandmother who disappeared last week.
00:25Ladies and gentlemen, your Quebec City podium winner, 24th, 2024, Mathews, Guillaumet, Moulin.
00:55A real kick left in their sprint. So when the bunch all moved to the left, I saw an opportunity to open up my sprint on the right.
01:02And I guess no one probably expected someone to go from that early.
01:06And I knew I didn't have the peak power today, but had a really long sprint.
01:10And I knew I had the power to do a 15, 20 second sprint today.
01:15I remember two days ago when some of the headliners were in that room where everyone was around Taddej, who's a good buddy of yours.
01:26And you were basically by yourself as if, you know, Michael Mathews, nobody remembered Michael Mathews in Quebec City.
01:32I mean, Taddej is the number one cyclist in the world at the moment.
01:36He's done some things this year that we've never seen in cycling before.
01:40So I totally understand that. I'm a fan of him also.
01:43So I think when he comes to Canada, it's not so often.
01:46And I understand that the fans love him and he's great for the sport.
01:50But yeah, for me, I'm just here to do my job, which is to win the race.
01:53It doesn't matter how many interviews I have. As long as I win the race, that's what's most important.
01:58Is there a certain feeling of relief because this is a win that you were looking for in 2000 or in 2024?
02:07Yeah, I mean, I had a really good start to the year, but sort of since Flanders with my disqualification in that sprint,
02:14my head rolled off a little bit, honestly, with the Tour de France and the Olympics.
02:18I was trying to make up for that unfortunate relegation.
02:21And yeah, to bounce back here with the lead up to the World Championships with a win here in Quebec, it's incredible.
02:28I think it's something we've been working for as a team.
02:31And I mean, since the Olympics till now, I've worked so hard to pull off this victory today.
02:36It's full credit to my team, my family and everyone around.
02:41And my grandma actually passed away last week.
02:45Last week, Wednesday, her funeral was this Wednesday in Canberra in Australia.
02:49So this victory is for her.
02:51All right, Michael Matthews, listen, congratulations on a third overall win in Quebec City.
02:58We'll see you in the protocol and hopefully we see you on the podium in Montreal.
03:02Who knows you won there before?
03:04Yeah, unfortunately, it was a different race in Montreal when I won.
03:07But yeah, I think now with the teams here, with the climbers they have here, it's going to be very difficult.
03:12But we've also got Simon Yates. If it's too hard for me, he's an amazing climber and he loves this race too in Montreal.
03:17So, yeah, we've got a great duo of me and Simon and hopefully one of us can be on the podium on Sunday also.
03:24Thank you, Michael. See you two days from now.
03:26Thanks very much. Thanks, guys.