Team Jayco AlUla leader, Michael Matthews sprinted to victory at the Gran Premio Castellón, triumphing in the race for the second time in his career.
After winning the Spanish event back in 2024, the Australian rider knew what it would take to come out on top. He powered up the finishing drag in fine style, to be the first male rider on the squad to throw his hands in their air this season.
Despite crashing hard in yesterday’s Classica Camp de Morverde, Team Jayco AlUla remained confident in Matthews’ abilities once he made the decision to take the start line today. With intentions of taking the win, the team took control of the peloton, keeping the day’s breakaway on a tight leash all day.
With 20km to go the race was back together again ahead of a fast downhill towards the finish line. Thanks to the efforts of his teammates keeping the 35-year-old in good position, Matthews opened up his sprint, ready to challenge for the victory. Using the uphill drag to his advantage the rider from Canberra added another win to his impressive list of palmarès and got the team off to a flying start in the European races.
Michael Matthews – Winner
“After yesterday’s crash, the first part of the race was challenging, but then I felt better and better. The team always believed in our chances of winning and worked hard and full throttle all day. We controlled the race most of the day, and in the finale, there were three of us Andrea Vendrame, Davide De Pretto, and me – fighting for the win. I was really in good shape in the final, and I’m very happy to have won this race again.”
Neil Stephens – Sport Director
“It takes a great team effort to win a race, and that was also the case today here in Castellón. At the start, we knew we had some great cards to play with Michael Matthews and Andrea Vendrame, and the team worked hard to achieve our goal. The team was perfect, and we managed to put Michael in the best position to sprint. ‘Bling’ showed, after yesterday’s crash, that he’s fully recovered, and I’m happy that he dedicated his first win of the season to the entire team.”
2026 Gran Premio de Castellón results:
Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla) 4:03:47
Pau Miquel ST
Lukas Kubis St
