Eight-time Grand Tour stage winner Michael Matthews has signed with Australian outfit Mitchelton-Scott on a two-year deal. Matthews, the 2017 Tour de France green jersey champion, still had one more year to run on his Sunweb contract. But after being controversially overlooked for this year's Tour de France, the 29-year-old Australian cut ties with Sunweb in order to rejoin Mitchelton-Scott. Sunweb said Matthews indicated to them that "the team's tactical approach to the sprints and classics - a more varied method which takes advantage of the team's increased collective strength - doesn't precisely fit his athletic profile nor his preference of being the team's targeted fast finisher." Matthews left Mitchelton-Scott (then known as Orica-BikeExchange) at the end of 2016, and said his return felt like "coming home". "I saw a moment where it just felt right," Matthews said. "As a sprinter and as a rider you feel moments like this and sometimes you just have to go with instinct. "The opportunity was there to come back and you have to take them when they are there. "At this moment in my career it just felt right, and the team has welcomed me back with open arms which is really special. "I want to get my own results, but also to be a part of the team that has GC (general classification) goals as well. "We will have Simon Yates that can win the biggest Grand Tour's in the world and I would love to be part of that and there's some young guys coming through, to help them progress too." Matthews' return offsets the loss of Adam Yates to British outfit Team Ineos earlier this month. Matthews, whose nickname is 'Bling', is a three-time stage winner at the Tour de France. Australian Associated Press
