Michael Matthews' summer was one of the worst of his life. Not because he missed the Tour de France, but because of the reason he had to do so: symptoms of a pulmonary embolism.

"I was at altitude preparing for the Tour, and after about ten days, I started having trouble breathing," the Australian from Jayco AlUla said from Canada, where he is competing in Quebec and Montreal. "I thought it was an allergy, it had happened before, so I continued training, but then I also started having annoying chest pains. I finished the training camp and when it was time to do stress tests, I couldn't even complete one - I felt like I was dying. In the hospital, they found blood clots in my lungs and admitted me for a couple of days. They told me that if I had continued those efforts for another 2-3 days, I could have killed myself. It was scary to hear that, it puts things into perspective - one day you're training regularly, the next you're in the hospital with pulmonary embolism symptoms. Even now, I'm taking anticoagulants and will continue to do so until after the GP Montreal."

Physical pain quickly transformed into mental resilience, and to achieve this, Matthews relied on his lifelong friend, the bicycle, despite doctors advising him to resume activity more cautiously. "Physically, I recovered quite quickly because the pain was only felt under exertion, but mentally it wasn't easy to react. Watching the Tour on TV was frustrating, and I went from doctor to doctor to understand what was really wrong with me. However, I received a lot of affection from everyone, including Pogačar, who was writing to me every 2-3 days despite being in the midst of fighting to win the Tour."

Winner of the Frankfurt GP in May, Bling returned to racing in late August, finishing 8th in the Bretagne Classic and, yesterday, 9th at the GP de Québec. In Canada, he's almost an idol because he's one of the 3 riders (along with Simon Gerrans and Robert Gesink) to have won both Quebec and Montreal, and in 2018, he even achieved a double.

"The form should still be good because I've had three months to work properly, and my training numbers have been very positive, among my best ever," Matthews concluded. "But then things often change in the race, so we'll see what awaits us. Let's say that after what happened to me, I should already be quite happy to be here, but I always start to win and will do so this time too."

(Photo Credits: James Startt / GPCQM)