The offensive paid off again on Saturday on the heights of Mende where Australian Michael Bling Matthews won the 14th stage of the Tour de France alone, still led by Dane Jonas Vingegaard.
“I’m not just a sprinter”, underlined the green jersey of the 2017 Tour. The Australian from the BikeExchange team touched on goal after two second places behind the strong men of the race, the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (in Longwy ) and the Belgian Wout van Aert (in Lausanne).
Matthews deprived Italian Alberto Bettiol of success, second in the stage at 15 seconds after a spectacular showdown on the final ascent. And also the Frenchman Thibaut Pinot, dominated in the climb Laurent Jalabert and “very disappointed” with his third place.
“I was in the strongest breakaway of the Tour”, estimated Pinot who has long been in a position to sign the first French stage success since the start. “But today it was complicated and hard to control. My paws were full of toxins.”
Closely watched within the river breakaway of 23 riders, the Franc-Comtois has added a new place of honor to his Lozère collection (2nd in 2015). However, he praised the performance of Matthews (“he really amazes me”), road-sprinter with an attacking temperament.
“It’s a bit like the story of my career, with ups and downs,” appreciated the Australian (31) who dedicated his success, the 39th of his career, to his three-year-old daughter. “Now she knows why I leave so often and make so many sacrifices.”
– Vingegaard as a Pogacar leech –
The day after a collective failure of his team on the road to Saint-Etienne, Matthews chose to attack from afar within the breakaway, 52 kilometers from the finish. He then showed himself to be the strongest of the trio who tackled the final climb in the lead (with Grossschartner and Sanchez) before resisting, with energy, Bettiol who came back a kilometer from the summit.
A dozen minutes later, the spectators massed in the emblematic climb of the Lozère prefecture witnessed another duel. The reigning double winner, Tadej Pogacar, attacked as expected but Vingegaard, the only one to keep in touch, stayed stubbornly in his wake, like a leech.
At the start of the stage, the Slovenian had already put pressure on the Dane whose Jumbo team had shown some signs of weakness (especially Roglic) before restoring the situation.
On the airfield track, the first two of the Tour therefore crossed the line wheel to wheel. Seventeen seconds before David Gaudu, the first of their following ahead of the Welshman Geraint Thomas and the Colombian Nairo Quintana.
The effort, all the more violent in the heat, cost Romain Bardet a handful of extra seconds, who dropped slightly in the standings. The Frenchman, still fourth, is now 18 seconds from the podium.
For everyone, including Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan who had a difficult day at the back of the race (39 minutes late!), there is still a stage to complete before the welcome rest day in Carcassonne. With, for dominant, very high temperatures. “Between 33 and 39 degrees”, according to forecasters, “with peaks of up to 40 degrees possible in the Tarn department”.
