Two days the same scenario. Like the previous one, the 14e stage of the Tour de France between Saint-Étienne and Mende returned to the strongest of the breakaway. Present throughout the afternoon at the heart of a breakaway of 23 riders, Michael Matthews quickly appeared as the strongest of the group.
50 km from the finish, it was the Australian who accelerated to create a quartet in the lead. At the foot of the Côte de la Croix-Neuve, the last difficulty (2.9 km at more than 10%) and judge of the peace of the stage, it was he again who let go of his companions. The Italian Alberto Bettiol joined him well in the “Jalabert climb”, and even a time slightly behind. But with a final thrust, Michael Matthews got the better of his competitor, and won alone at the Mende aerodrome.
New duel between Pogacar and Vingegaard
Finishing more than twelve minutes behind him, the favorites of the Tour also explained themselves in the Côte de la Croix-Neuve. Already turbulent at the start of the stage, the second overall and double title holder Tadej Pogacar did not manage to get away from the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard; the two taking a little more distance from the other leaders.
In the general classification, Louis Meintjes, the best ranked of the 23 breakaways, achieved the breakthrough of the day. The South African passes from the 13e at the 7e place, now less than five minutes behind Jonas Vingegaard. The Dane still dominates two former Tour winners, Tadej Pogacar and Geraint Thomas, by more than two minutes.
Calvary by Caleb Ewan
The French Romain Bardet (4e) and David Gaudu (8e) are firmly in the top-10, more than four minutes away. The green jersey seems definitively acquired by the Belgian Wout Van Aert, more precarious, the polka dot tunic remains on the German Simon Geschke.
Far, very far from the breakaway and even from the whole peloton, Caleb Ewan crossed the line more than 39 minutes behind Michael Matthews. The pocket sprinter, winner of five stages in the Tour de France, was unclamped from the first kilometers, in pain after his fall on Friday in a bend. Alone and without the help of three team members, who volunteered to accompany him for a good part of the 192 km of the day, the Australian would not even have reached the finish on time on Saturday.
