Australian Michael Matthews put on a career best performance today with a breakaway masterclass, to claim his fourth Tour de France stage victory on stage 14 in Mende.
The victory hands Team BikeExchange-Jayco their second stage win of the Tour after Dylan Groenewegen’s sprint success on stage three, with Matthews showing his grit and determination to bounce back after two painfully tight second place finishes already in the race.
Matthews’ success came after he infiltrated a large 23 rider breakaway that eventually broke away after a furious start, and with the advantage rolling out to over 10 minutes, it was clear the stage would be decided amongst those in the breakaway.
Over the hilly terrain the attacks started, with Matthews alert to the danger, following a series of moves, before launching his own assault with more than 50km remaining.
The Australian quickly opened up a gap of 20 seconds as the group stalled behind, with three riders eventually bridging across and providing welcomed firepower at the head of the race.
The leader’s eventually reached the foot of the final climb with a slender advantage and the deficit continued to fall as Matthews edged away solo on the lower slopes of the steep 2.9km ascent. However, it looked like the dream was over as Alberto Bettiol caught and passed Matthews as the summit approached, but the Team BikeExchange-Jayco rider wasn’t giving in that easily.
After losing the wheel of Bettiol, Matthews dug deep and hauled his way back up to the Italian before accelerating away over the top of the climb. With a decisive gap opened up, Matthews had time to soak up the atmosphere and savour his first Tour stage win in five years.
Michael Matthews (1st place)
“I think this is pretty much the story of my career. I’ve had so many rollercoasters, ups and downs. How many times I’ve been smashed down, to all the time get back up, this was for my daughter today.
I think I just wanted to show everyone that I’m not just a sprinter, I can also ride like a rode today and I was just thinking of my daughter on that final climb, all the way up to the finish, and my wife, how much sacrifice they make for me to make my dreams come true, hopefully today, I showed them the reason why we sacrifice so much.
After yesterday, I think that was a big opportunity missed. Yesterday was a really good stage for me, this three day block, from yesterday until tomorrow was what our team was aiming for in the second week.
Today, I just knew this would probably be my last chance. Into Lausanne was a big opportunity, I came up second, then I was second to Tadej, second best again, so it is extra special to get the victory today.”
Matt White – Head Sport Director
“Today was very special on a few fronts firstly, things didn’t go as planned yesterday so we had to turn things around and turn things around quickly. What does it mean after three second places, I think for Matthews it is the most impressive ride of his career.
He has changed over the years; he is a different rider to what he was four or five years ago but what he has become is a lot more robust and his ability to climb has obviously improved, but he has still got that snap there.
He has some close run-ins early in the race and to get that monkey off his back, third time trying, we are all very proud of it. But, we are not content, we will continue aiming for victory from now all the way to Paris.”
2022 Tour de France – Stage 14 Results:
- Michael Matthews 4:30:53
- Alberto Bettioli +0:15
- Thibaut Pinot +0:34
