Michael Matthews will leave Sunweb at the end of the season after reaching an agreement with the team to terminate his contract a year before it expires.The 29-year-old Matthews has yet to decide on a new team for 2021.

The Australian becomes the fourth high-profile player to leave Ivan Spekenbrink's team early since Marcel Kittel, Warren Barguil, and Tom Dumoulin left Sunweb (Germany) before their contracts expired.

Matthews was a surprise omission from Sunweb's team for the 2020 Tour de France and was also scheduled to miss October's Belgian Classic in order to compete in the Giro d'Italia. The Australian won the Bretagne Classic in Plouay earlier this week.

Sunweb announced the news in a press release Sunday evening, two hours after Marc Hirschi finished second in the second stage of the Tour in Nice.

In a statement, the team said that Matthews "indicated that the team's tactical approach to the sprints and classics did not match his athletic ability and his preference for being a fast finisher, which is the team's target," adding: "The team in the classics and sprints The team's tactical evolution in the Classics and Sprints has led Matthews to look elsewhere for new opportunities after 2020. The team decided to cooperate with this move."

Matthews joined Sunweb in 2017 from Mitchelton-Scott, and his debut season with the team was marked by two stage wins, the green jersey at the Tour, and fourth place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. 2018 saw him win the Grand Prix de Quebec and Grand Prix de Montréal, and in 2019 he won again in Quebec.

The 29-year-old extended his contract with Sunweb on the eve of last year's Tour, unexpectedly leading the team after Dumoulin pulled out with an injury.

"The team is very ambitious and increasingly wants to work with a broader group of riders in the classics and sprint race finals. Such tactics do not ideally match my ambitions and strengths to win in sprints. Therefore, I have decided to ask permission to investigate the opportunity to find another team. I am grateful that Team Sunweb was open to doing so," Matthews said in a statement released Sunday.

"I have always been very pleased with the team's professional environment and wealth of knowledge. I hope to find a similar environment with my next team."

Sunweb has already announced the arrival of Romain Bardet from AG2R La Mondiale for 2021, while Dutch talent Sam Oommen has been transferred to Jumbo Visma and Wilco Kelderman is also leaving the team.

Spekenbrink described Matthews as "an incredibly talented rider," but said the team "wants to show (its) broad overall strength in the classics and sprints."