Aussie’s green party
CYCLING: Michael Matthews was partying in Paris last night after a Tour de France green jersey triumph he hopes can inspire another generation of Aussie sprinters.
Matthews finished safely in a final stage sprint won by Dylan Groenewegen, while Chris Froome’s fourth Tour crown was cemented on the famous Champs-Elysees.
Matthews walked on to the podium with the national flag around his shoulders as the first Australian to win the green jersey since Robbie McEwen in 2006.
“I think I’ve worked really hard to get to this point and cycling in Australia has helped me also to get to this point,” Matthews said.
“Hopefully we can really enjoy it and we can even get better from it. What’s it been? Eleven years since an Aussie has won the green jersey? Hopefully we’ve ended that dry spell now.”
So overjoyed was the Canberra-born, Monaco resident that he had to be told to get off the podium.
“I was trying to soak it up as much as I could,” he said.
“I actually wanted to stay a little bit longer. I didn’t want to get off because the crowd was going quite crazy and I really enjoy that. It went a little bit too fast.”
While Matthews benefited from the early disqualification of world champion and five-time green jersey winner Peter Sagan, along with crash victims Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel, his consistency in a volatile race made him a worthy winner of the race’s most prestigious jersey behind yellow.
The Aussie trailed a seemingly unbeatable German Kittel by 133 points after stage 11, but clawed his way back by hunting intermediate points on mountain stages, while winning two stages himself.