Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) has a thing about winning big races. 2010 Junior World Champion, 2 Vuelta stages, a Tour Down Under stage…

Now though, he will attempt to win 2 of the biggest bike races in the world: Milan-Sanremo and at least 1 stage of the Tour de France.

On Sanremo, he told Cyclingnews: “It is a very special and particular race, I love the country and racing in Italy and it’s definitely my career goal, I would like to have it on my palmares, but there are lots of races which are really interesting and motivating as the Tour or Worlds."

He is known as a sprinter but can climb when needed, highlighted by his 2 Vuelta stage wins on a hilly parcours, so a Sanremo victory is definitely not beyond him.

As for the Tour, he said: "Racing the Tour is like a dream come true. I was waiting for this opportunity. For a sprinter the biggest goals are the sprint stages and of course the green jersey,"

Matthews, who resides in Monaco during the season, is currently back home in Australia preparing for the Tour Down Under. 

"I am taking the race as training and my main goal is to help the team to win GC with Simon Gerrans. If there is a chance for me at some stage I will do my best but it’s not the priority now,"

Matthews race schedule for 2014 is as follows: “Tour Down Under, Mallorca Challenge, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, Amstel Gold Race, Bayern Rundfahrt, Critérium du Dauphiné and then the Tour. I am trying this year to be more consistent with my racing but it depends on the team goals and their plan too."

Wherever he races, one thing is for sure; Michael Matthews will be able to contest for the win.