As a three-time winner of the race, and many more times a podium finisher, Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) is always a favourite for the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, but this year the race will hold extra importance for the Australian.
That’s not just because the two Canadian Grands Prix this year are acting as a rehearsal for the upcoming Road World Championships in Montréal later this month – though that’s of course a part of it – but also because for Matthews every race at full fitness this year feels like a success.
After a pulmonary embolism threatened to cut his career short last year, he came back to a good level at the start of 2026 only to suffer an awful crash in training that saw him break both arms and miss the whole Classics season.
He recovered in time for a packed summer of stage racing, being particularly active in the second half of the Tour de France, but this week in Canada will mark only his third and fourth one-day races post-accident.
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“I’m feeling good. After the Tour I had a good block of training again at altitude. Then Plouay last weekend, I came straight from altitude, so it looks like everything is moving in a good way,” he said of his form on Wednesday ahead of the weekend’s races.
“Here, like every year, this has always been a big goal, coming to Canada and these races really suit me, so hopefully everything has gone to plan to this point.”
Coming back to a good level was not the biggest challenge for Matthews, who had already started 2026 well and with a win before his accident. That proved his base level and competitiveness is still very much there.
"Everything was going really well at the start until my big accident in March. Obviously that was a massive setback, because everything was going really smoothly after my health problems the year before. I was able to turn things around and get back into good shape after the embolia in my lungs and then breaking both my arms and breaking my face was obviously a massive setback.
"But I'm also happy to be alive. It was such a situation where if it happened again, I probably wouldn't be here right now, so I have to really be thankful for that and be thankful I can still be back here racing with the best guys in the world."
This year, Matthews will face a revamped course in Québec and a route that's different from the one he's raced and won on before, so there is a slight sense of the unknown, and perhaps more chances for a repeat of last year, when Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) won from a breakaway.
"Obviously where I've won the race three times suited me the best. Last year the breakaway managed to stay away, but I was still sprinting – if the break wasn't away, I was still sprinting for the win from the bunch, so it was OK. But now with the new finish, we don't know," he said.
"It's always different every year. This year is also very different when the World Championships is also here in Montréal, so there's going to be a lot of really good riders in top, top shape to perform, so I think it's going to be probably a different race to what we're used to, especially in Québec, but I'm looking forward to it."
Matthews is so familiar with this city and these roads in Québec, plus there's clearly a renewed sense of confidence and happiness as the Jayco rider eyes a chance to break his own record of three wins in this race.
"It feels a little bit like I'm in Australia. I probably spend more time in Canada than I do in Australia these days, so I somewhat feel like it's almost my home race now," he said.
"Also I've had a lot of success here, so the fans obviously get behind me a lot, even when we're out training. Today and every day we're here, whether it's a car driving past or fans riding on the road, they know who we are, which is quite special I think. And these two races have brought cycling in Canada to a new level, which is really nice to be a part of."
Facing big rivals, although not Pogačar
Taking win number four certainly won't be straightforward, though, particularly with the Worlds in Montréal meaning he's up against an even stronger field than normal, with potentially a smaller portion of sprinters and more climbing stars like Paul Seixas, Isaac del Toro and Remco Evenepoel.
Matthews did get a sneak peak of the latter when they were both preparing for this final block of racing.
"We were in training camp at the same place in Livigno in Italy leading up to this, and I saw he was in really good shape, doing some really good training sessions," he said of Evenepoel.
"I know his focus is probably for the Worlds in a few weeks in Montréal, but I'm sure whenever he races he's going to try and win. He's a racer, whenever he puts his number on he's going for it. But Québec normally comes down to a sprint, but I think when you look at the start list this year, I'd say there's less sprinters and more climbers let's say. I think it's going to be a very selective race on Friday, I'd say."
The question on everyone's lips this week in Canada is about how Tadej Pogačar's absence from the rest of the season might affect the races still to come. For Matthews, though, the Slovenian's nasty crash at the Vuelta a España was first and foremost a personal shock, rather than a racing headline. The pair are neighbours and close friends.
"I was watching the race from the massage table when I was doing Plouay, on the Saturday, so it was honestly very difficult to watch, especially when it's such a good mate. He was doing so well, he was in the form of his life, and about to create more things in history in cycling, so obviously to see that happen, ... seeing a friend really struggling, was super difficult," he said.
"He was super helpful through my time this year when I had my broken arms, so obviously I'm trying to be there as much as I can for him during his hard times too."
But aside from the personal element, Matthews – and all the other riders in the races this week, and in two weeks' time – still admits that Pogačar's absence from the World Championships, which he won the last two years, will surely reshape the race.
"Obviously it changes a lot when you haven't got the world's best bike rider in the race. It does open the race up a lot more to a different style of racing. I think normally you would see probably a very hard race, and then a very open race from 80 to 100ks to go, whereas now I think people will probably wait a bit longer for the last few laps to start maybe a more traditional bike race for this year at the Worlds."
Whether that's a race Matthews can be involved with is a bigger question, and it may well end up too difficult for his capabilities, but first he has a return to the GP de Québec to look forward to, a race he knows how to win better than anyone.
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