Michael Matthews to Start Ninth Tour de France After Missing 2025 Event and Suffering 2026 Training Crash

The Tour de France begins Saturday in Barcelona with Michael Matthews set to start his ninth edition of the race. Abc reported that the 35-year-old Jayco AlUla rider missed the 2025 event after a pulmonary embolism was found during training and later recovered from a high-speed crash into a fire truck earlier in 2026.

Matthews won the points classification green jersey in 2017 and has secured four stage victories overall, with his most recent coming in 2022 on a stage finishing at Mende.

He attacked from the breakaway that year, was caught by Alberto Bettiol on the final ascent, then retook the lead on the Côte de la Croix Neuve. Abc reported that Matthews completed a three-month course of blood thinners after the 2025 embolism. He had won the Eschborn-Frankfurt one-day classic in May 2025 before experiencing sharp chest pain during training, collapsing off his bike and requiring hospital treatment.

Doctors told him that continuing at altitude for another two to three days would likely have been fatal. Earlier in 2026 Matthews crashed into a fire truck while training at a combined speed of 100 km/h. Abc reported he suffered an open arm fracture, cut thumb tendons, two broken wrists and a sinus fracture that required facial stitches.

Matthews stated the injuries were worse than initially reported publicly and that the incident could have ended his career or been fatal. "If you'd told me three months ago that I would be lining up for the Tour de France, I don't think I would have believed you," Matthews said via a team statement.

" Matthews added that the Jayco AlUla squad is strong and that he is eager to begin with a team time trial in Barcelona.