Michael Matthews refutes reports of feud with teammate Simon Gerrans

Orica-GreenEdge's Michael Matthews stands by the comments he made after the World Championships in September, but insists there is no bad blood between him and Simon Gerrans.

Matthews felt the pair were riding against each other in the finale of the road race in Richmond, where the pair finished second and sixth respectively, as part of Australia coach Brad McGee's two-leader policy.

The young sprinter felt he should have had the full support of his team and former Orica rider Robbie McEwen suggested there would be a rift between the pair.

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At an Orica event in Melbourne on Thursday, Matthews reiterated his Worlds statement, but says his relationship with Gerrans has not been affected.

"I don't regret anything I said," he told Fairfax Media. "I think I said what needed to be said, and we talked after the race and cleared it all up.

"With what Robbie said about a rift, I think it's all cleared now. Everyone's said what they've wanted to say…we're all professional bike riders, we're all there for a reason: we all want to win when there's an opportunity to win.

"I wasn't too happy about the comment [from McEwan], because obviously we're both winners, me and Simon, so we both saw an opportunity to win the World Championship, so we both wanted to go for it."

Matthews confirmed that he would not be riding in his home land over the winter, preferring instead to return to Europe to prepare for the 2016 season.

This year he came third at both Milan-San Remo and the Amstel Gold Race before wearing the Giro d'Italia's pink jersey for two stages.