Michael Matthews has won the fourteenth stage in the Tour de France on Saturday. The 31-year-old Australian from BikeExchange-Jayco made the difference on the tough, but not so long final climb, crossing the finish line solo in Mende, where the finish was on an airport runway. Jonas Vingegaard kept the yellow leader’s jersey, despite several attacks by Tadej Pogacar.
In the final phase Matthews settled with Alberto Bettiol, who seemed to relieve the Australian on the last climb. The Australian recovered quickly, outflanked the Italian and was able to make the cheer early on.
His margin on Bettiol was fifteen seconds. Number three Thibaut Pinot conceded 34 seconds. Bauke Mollema was also part of the leading group, but lost a lot of ground in the final phase and finished nineteenth in 4 minutes and 54 seconds. It is Matthews’ fourth stage win in the Tour de France and his first since 2017.
The favorites for the overall victory followed more than twelve minutes from the leading group. Pogacar tried to shake off Vingegaard, but the jersey wearer reacted sovereign to the Slovenian’s accelerations. Furthermore, no one could follow Pogacar, making it even clearer that the battle for the overall victory is between two riders.
Tadej Pogacar was unable to release Jonas Vingegaard on his way to Mende.
Tadej Pogacar was unable to release Jonas Vingegaard on his way to Mende. Photo: Getty Images
Pogacar immediately puts Vingegaard under pressure
The fourteenth stage had a spectacular opening phase. Pogacar put pressure on Jumbo-Visma early on with an attack and caused a break in the peloton with his accelerations. The two-time Tour winner failed to release Vingegaard.
Because many riders tried to mount an attack in the hunt for day success, it remained restless in the peloton. After Pogacar was called to order, a leading group of no less than 23 men arose. The best placed of them, Louis Meintjes, was more than fifteen minutes behind Vingegaard, so that Jumbo-Visma was able to give its blessing to the flight. Mollema, Jakob Fuglsang, Pinot, Rigoberto Urán and Daniel Martínez, among others, were also part of the leading group.
The adventurers cycled to a lead of more than ten minutes, so it was soon clear that the winner of the day would be at the front. On the hilly course, the sizeable leading group was thinned out at 50 kilometers from the finish when Michael Matthews tried to get away.
After a chaotic phase, a leading group of four riders emerged: Matthews, Luis León Sánchez, Felix Grossschartner and Andreas Kron, who dropped out due to a puncture. It soon became clear that Mollema was not good enough to fight for the win.
Michael Matthews crosses the line in Mende.
Michael Matthews crosses the line in Mende. Photo: Getty Images
Matthews drives away from fellow refugees
On the final climb, Matthews quickly pulled away from his fellow front runners. The Australian still had his hands full with Bettiol, but turned out to be the strongest.
In the group of favorites Pogacar and Vingegaard soon separated. The Danish general classification leader stayed in the Slovenian’s wheel and kept his lead of 2 minutes 22 seconds in the battle for the yellow jersey. The top three of the standings is completed by Geraint Thomas, at 2 minutes and 43 seconds.
The Tour de France continues on Sunday with a relatively flat ride to Carcassonne. Sprinters such as Dylan Groenewegen and Fabio Jakobsen will undoubtedly have circled the stage in red in their agenda. Monday will be the third and final rest day in this 109th edition of the Tour de France.
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