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Matthews' top finish at Paris-Nice so far is sixth place on stages 1 and 2, but he and Australian World Tour team Jayco-AlUla completely missed the finish overnight for stage 5, with the 32-year-old finishing 26th.
In a chaotic sprint finale to the 212.4km stage from Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise to Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux, Matthews admitted Jayco AlUla "totally mistimed" the run-in.
"It was very messy, as expected,” Matthews said. “It was an easy day in the peloton, and the sprinters’ last chance, so everyone was taking full risks to get in position. We totally mistimed it today.”
Matthews returned to Australia for the summer of racing, including the national championships and the Tour Down Under, and said that contributed to his different arrival at Paris-Nice, a race where he has had strong results in the past.
"I guess it's very different to other years when I stayed here in Europe and really trained in the cold, preparing for Paris-Nice, Milan-San Remo and the Classics, whereas this time I was in Australia racing," Matthews said.
"I'm not super happy with where I am at the moment - but, hopefully, it's progressing forward, not backwards."
Matthews has his eyes on Milan San Remo in just over a week’s time, where he'll be making his 11th attempt at winning the Italian monument.
According to the Australian, "it's my dream race to try to win" after finishing third on two occasions and being in the top-seven five times.
Meanwhile, Jumbo-Visma took their second stage win at Paris-Nice overnight as Olav Kooij was the best of the bunch in the final sprint to the line in Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, while Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) remained the top-placed Australian on the overall standings at two minutes and 28 seconds behind race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
Paris-Nice continues tonight with Stage 6, an undulating course with five climbs on the 197.5 kilometre route from Tourves to the finish in La Colle-sur-Loup. Watch the action live from 12:55am (AEDT) on SBS and SBS On Demand.
