Michael Matthews was able to capture the second straight stage victory for Team Sunweb on Stage 14 at the 104th Tour de France, as the Australian sprinter showed his strength in the final kilometer of the day by beating out a charging Greg van Avermaet (BMC).
Immediately after the departure from the suburban town of Blagnac, outside the French city of Toulouse, a four-rider group, consisting of Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie), Maxime Bouet (Fortuneo-Oscaro), and Timo Roosen (Lotto NL-Jumbo), made a move off the front, which received no response from the peloton.
5 kilometers into the stage, the four-man lead pack held a 1'45'' gap on the field, as Reto Hollenstein (Katusha-Alpecin) decided to surge off the front of the main group.
9 kilometers later Hollenstein was able to catch the breakaway, as the leaders built their lead on the peloton to 2'30''.
At the intermediate sprint in village of Rabastens, Thomas de Gendt put in a surge to beat out Maxime Bouet and capture the day's only intermediate sprint points.
Voeckler, Hollenstein, and Roosen followed closely through the intermediate sprint checkpoint, as the current owner of the green jersey, Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors), cross the line ahead of Michael Matthews and Fabio Sabatini (Quick-Step Floors) to add 11 points to his lead in the green jersey.
80 kilometers into the stage the five riders in the lead held onto their slightly diminished cushion of 2' minutes over the field.
The wind began to pick up, as the lead pack held onto their 2' minute gap with 75 kilometers remaining on the stage.
With 55 kilometers to go, the breakaway reached the first of the two category 3 climbs on the day at the Cote du viaduc du Viaur.
Thomas de Gendt once again beat the rest of the leaders to the line, as the Belgian charged up the Cote du viaduc du Viaur and took 2 points in the mountains classification ahead of Thomas Voeckler, who took a single point in the mountains as second rider up the climb.
On the second, and final, climb of the day on the Cote de Centres de Gendt and Voeckler had go off the front, holding onto a 1'30'' lead on the peloton.
de Gendt once again beat out Voeckler on the ascent, taking 2 more points on the Cote de Centres, as the Lotto Soudal rider sought to add to his points total in the King of the Mountains classification, where he currently sits in 2nd place behind Warren Barguil (Team Sunweb).
With 30 kilometers left to go de Gendt made his move and had gone solo, dropping Voeckler and looking to hold his lead on the field.
de Gendt battled valiantly for 20 kilometers before finally getting chased down by the peloton. For his efforts, de Gendt was rewarded with the most aggressive rider title on the day.
Katusha-Alpecin rider Maurits Lammertink made a gutsy move off the front with 11 kilometers to the line, and held strong for 8 kilometers, but was inevitably reeled in by the main pack with only 3 kilometers remaining.
In the final kilometer, the roads narrowed as the bunch sprint began.
Greg van Avermaet put in a courageous effort in the final 100 meters, but Michael Matthews proved to be the more powerful rider in the end and comfortably cruised across the finish line with his hands raised in triumph.
The top five finishers, from first to fifth, on Stage 14 consisted of Michael Matthews, Greg van Avermaet, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data), Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors), and Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe).
Fabio Aru (Astana) struggled in the final kilometers, as Chris Froome (Team Sky) was able to gain 24 seconds on the Italian rider and take back the Maillot Jaune after losing it to Aru on Stage 12.
Michael Matthews made up ground in the points classification, but Marcel Kittel will wear the green jersey once again on Stage 15, holding a 99 point cushion over Matthews.
Warren Barguil will keep his lead as the King of the Mountains, ahead of Thomas de Gendt who fought to capture points in the mountains throughout the day.
Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) will maintain his lead over Louis Meintjes (UAE Team Emirates) in the best young rider classification, while Team Sky will hold their position atop the team classification standings ahead of AG2R La Mondiale.
Stage 15 will cover 189.5 kilometers through the French Occitan, as the peloton will depart from the Aveyron commune of Laissac-Severac l'Eglise before reaching the finish line in the city of Le Puy-en-Velay near the Loire River.
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