‘I hit a firetruck at pretty much 100kmh’ Michael Matthews reveals shocking crash details

Jayco AlUla veteran Michael Matthews has revealed the horror details behind the high-speed training crash in Italy that ended his Spring Classics campaign – and nearly ended his career.

Speaking with former GreenEDGE media guru Dan Jones on the Detour podcast the 35-year-old explained the incident back on March 5 was far more serious than most people knew and was caused by a fire engine being on wrong side of the road.

“It was much worse than everyone had thought,” Matthews said ahead of his return to WorldTour racing this week at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (previously the Critérium du Dauphiné).

“It also wasn’t said that I hit a firetruck at pretty much 100kmh, I was doing 50 and the truck was doing 50. We didn’t want to make it into a massive thing at the time…. we didn’t want people to worry… and to make sure I was fit and healthy before we said exactly what happened.”

Recalling what he could of the incident itself, Matthews explained he was out motor-pacing ahead of his next block of racing.

“The crash wasn’t my fault, I came around a corner on my side of the road and, from what I remember, there was suddenly something red in front of me and from there I was on the ground with two broken arms and a broken face.”

That ‘something’ turned out to be a moving firetruck, and he hit it hard. Head-on.

“Obviously I couldn’t lift my body weight… my left (arm) was like a noodle and my right was just flopping,” he remembered.

Matthews was transferred to hospital where scans confirmed he had suffered two broken arms, wrist fractures, a facial fracture and severed tendons in his thumb – bringing his Spring to a sudden and painful halt.

“With a crash like that it could have ended my career, or even worse. I might not be here right now. I’m extremely blessed to be able to tell the story and how lucky I was,” Matthews acknowledged.

Currently back with Jayco AlUla at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Matthews is using the race as a stepping stone to this year’s Tour de France which begins in Barcelona on July 4.

“It’s all about getting back into the race rhythm again. It’s been a journey that I didn’t expect to happen but I’m just happy to be back around the team,” he said.

After the first three days of the eight-stage Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Matthews sits 101st on GC with Jayco AlUla teammate Luke Plapp the best placed Aussie in 13th.