There was no doubt that Plan A for Australia's only World Tour team, Jayco Aroura, was to win the Santos Tour Down Under, which returns to the calendar in 2023. It probably would have been Plans B and C as well.

But despite taking second overall and a stage win with Simon Yates in Sunday's finale, they were left with even more hope and will look for it in next week's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. [Michael Matthews used his last reserve for Yates at Mount Lofty after winning the sprint prize jersey on stage 5 in a grueling finale.

"We proved it this week and we are motivated for next week. I had some bad luck this week, but I'm ready to show myself again next Sunday."

That the Tour Down Under was the main goal was evident by the strong performances of both Matthews and Yates, but the Australian team was unlucky after two years of losing the chance to compete in their home World Tour race due to cancellations.

First, they lost Chris Harper to a crash on stage 1, and then on stage 2, just as Matthews was in a great position to finish second on GC, an ill-timed wheel collision caused his chain to come off.

Still, all was not lost on the two-pronged approach, as Matthews dropped down the GC standings while Yates moved up, but the top step was out of reach as debutant Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) put in a perfect performance He was out of reach.

However, had it not been for that mishap, it would have been certain that Jayco Aroura and Matthews would have beaten Vine.

"It's hard to say. I wanted to try for sure and see exactly what happened from there, but obviously he was super strong this week. I don't think you can take anything away from his performance," Matthews said.

"In the end, things changed in the middle of the race, but I adapted and was able to finish second overall, win a stage, and take the jersey.

Still, it was not the week Matthews was aiming for.

"It was my first opportunity to go for the yellow jersey in the Tour Down Under. I mean, I've always supported my teammates to win the Tour Down Under," Matthews said. [Obviously there were high expectations from myself, the team, and everyone else. So when we had mechanical problems, it was hard to swallow.

"We came here to accomplish big things.

"Does that mean we've forgotten about the opportunities we lost by dropping the chain?

"No, we definitely haven't forgotten," Matthews told reporters on the sideline. Every night I had a hard time sleeping remembering that situation, but in the end you have to move on."

"It never really goes away. I knew how great I was in shape to win this Tour Down Under.

However, Matthews will sleep a little easier once he returns to Europe after winning the 176-km Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on Sunday, January 29.