Multiple Tour de France stage winner Robbie McEwen thinks the fallout from Michael Matthews' silver medal in the men's road race at the world championships could cause a rift in the Orica-GreenEDGE team.

Matthews told Cyclingnews he and fellow Australian sprinter Simon Gerrans had sprinted against each other in the worlds in Richmond, USA, on Monday morning (AEST) and he would have liked the full support of the Aussie team as they tried to chase down eventual winner Peter Sagan.

Michael Matthews, left, wished he'd had more help chasing Peter Sagan, centre. Credit:Steve Helber

The Canberra cyclist felt he might have been able to claim gold if Gerrans hadn't also been going for the win.

But Sagan cruised across the line to win by three seconds, with Matthews winning the bunch sprint behind to claim the silver.