For the second day in a row Team Sunweb had reason for celebrations after taking the Tour de France stage 14 victory with Michael Matthews (AUS) sealing the win in Rodez.
Stage 14 was marked as a unique opportunity for Team Sunweb’s sprinter Michael Matthews, with the uphill finish perfectly suiting the 26-year-old Australian. The team were in control throughout the day, always keeping the breakaway within reach. Every move until the finish was marked, showing Team Sunweb’s upmost dedication to their goal; stage success. A stellar performance in a chaotic finale saw Matthews delivered to the uphill finish in optimum position by his team mates and he was then able to finish off their fantastic 180 kilometre effort to seal Team Sunweb’s thirteenth Tour de France stage victory.
“I’m super happy to get the win for the team today,” explained Matthews after the finish. “We were all really focused even though there was a lot of pressure and expectations. The team have worked so hard for the whole Tour de France so for us to take two in a row is incredible and we couldn’t ask for anything more. The dedication from everyone shows how motivated they are and how much they believe in the same shared goal. We’ve prepared and worked so hard hoping to take the win today and we’ve done it, it’s a really special victory for us all.”
Team Sunweb’s Tour de France coach Aike Visbeek (NED) said: “We knew from the beginning that today would be a big chance for Michael and the team and we knew that it was our responsibility to take control. The team had a long, hard day ahead of them but they handled it really well. In the final Michael still had two from the team with him and he finished it off perfectly. It’s an incredible team victory and a reward for everybody’s hard work.”
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Five in the lead
177 riders started stage 14 in Blagnac. Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) attacked from the gun. He was quickly rejoined by Timo Roosen (LottoNL-Jumbo), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) and Maxime Bouet (Fortuneo-Oscaro) while Reto Hollenstein (Katusha-Alpecin) reinforced the leading group at km 14. Their maximum advantage was three minutes at km 25 as teams BMC and Sunweb of hot favourites Greg Van Avermaet and Michael Matthews prepared for an uphill finish from very far out. With the help of Jani Brajkovic (Bahrain-Merida), they maintained the time difference for two minutes for most of the stage. De Gendt won the intermediate sprint and crested the two categorized climbs in first position ahead of Voeckler.
De Gendt ahead until 12km to go
The leading quintet split in the côte de Contrès with 38km to go. De Gendt and Voeckler forged on while their former breakaway companions were brought back by the peloton. With 32km to go, De Gendt rode Voeckler off. The Lotto-Soudal rider stayed one minute ahead with 20km to go. He was reeled in with 12km to go after 170km in the lead. Maurits Lammertink (Katusha-Alpecin) counter attacked straight away. Damiano Caruso (BMC), Nikias Arndt (Sunweb) and Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fortuneo-Oscaro) accompanied the Dutchman at the front but it was all together again with 4km to go.
Matthews wins, Froome back in yellow
After Belgian champion Oliver Naesen (AG2R-La Mondiale) disturbed the lead out trains, Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) launched the uphill sprint in Rodez from far out but it was a duel at the top of the climb between the two riders everyone expected. Matthews proved to be a bit stronger than Van Avermaet. The Australian claimed his second stage win at the Tour de France one year after he did it in Revel. Splits in the peloton put Chris Froome back in the lead of the overall ranking with an advantage of 19 seconds over Fabio Aru and 23 over Romain Bardet.
1. Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) in 4h21’56’’
2. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team), st
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Dimension Data), at 1’’
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Christopher Froome (Team Sky)
2. Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) at 18’’
3. Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) at 23’’
