After coming to the fore at the end of 2013 with two Vuelta a Espana stage wins, Michael Matthews emerged into the forefront of cycling in 2014 with stages in both the Giro and Vuelta and stints in both of the leaders jerseys from those races.

He talked to Ciclismo Internacional about his great 2014 season and his 2015 objectives. However, his 2014 wasn’t all success and race leads, as the Australian suffered heartbreak when he was ruled out of the Tour de France in 2014 with injury.

“One of my main goals for this year was to ride well at TDF. It didn’t happened because of my injury so that’s why it’s one of my main focuses for next year”, he said: “I have never raced TDF so don’t know what to expect. I have spoken with Oscar Freire about it and he told me it’s a totally different race from anything else so I will make sure I am 100% ready for it and let’s see.“

It is likely Matthews will return to the Giro d’Italia, where he won his first ever Giro stage atop Montecassino when he beat Cadel Evans, Tim Wellens and Matteo Rabottini in a sprint while wearing the Maglia Rosa. Some people claim Evans let Matthews win as Evans had gained enough time on his rivals to inherit the jersey from Matthews once the race hit the mountains, which Evans eventually did. But “Bling” was 100% he won the race on his own.

“Cadel is a true champion and champions never give away a race. His face expression in the finish line said it all. I would never want to be given a win, I want to fight for all my wins.”

But Matthews has had even more success in Spain, winning the Vuelta a la Rioja, a stage of the Tour of the Basque Country and adding one more stage to his Vuelta a Espana tally when he won stage three and he took over the leader’s Red Jersey from Alejandro Valverde.

“I love racing in Spain. The climate is my friend. The fans in Spain are incredible and it’s always a great experience to race there. I hope I can do some more racing there again next year.“

Matthews was expected to challenge at the Worlds too, but could only manage 14th as he worked for Simon Gerrans, who was second. In fact, Gerrans may hinder Matthews for the next few years as the two share similar objectives and qualities, meaning it may be a while before we see Matthews as Australian road champion and a genuine Ardennes contender. But Matthews revealed he wouldn’t be racing his national title and wasn’t sure he would race Amstel either in 2015.

“I am not competing at nationals in Australia this time. I live in Europe and for this season I decided to stay here and train here too. Amstel is definitely a race I would like to win one year. It’s too early to say who the team will ride for in this particular race next year, there is a lot that could happen between now and then.“

But he does make the Spring Classics an objective, and he could flourish in Milan-Sanremo and Brabantse Pijl as well as being a great Plan B to Gerrans in Amstel. However, his big objectives are the Tour de France and the World Championships, which he won as an U23 in 2010 and the course could suit him in 2015.

“My main objectives are the spring classics, TDF and Worlds.“