Tour de France: Michael Matthews wins stage 14 with impressive breakaway performance in steep summit finish

Michael Matthews has pulled off a masterpiece, winning stage 14 of the Tour de France in it's hilly course, with a brutal effort up the Côte de la Croix Neuve which has earned him a win from the breakaway for Team BikeExchange - Jayco.

The start of the day was fast and furious, with both Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard involved in an exchange of blows in the early hilltops, as Jumbo-Visma found themselves in a vulnerable situation and the Slovenian tried to take advantage of it. The opening hour of racing was violent with several groups dropped right from the early kilometers, and a lot of difficulty to establish a breakaway.

Eventually, as Jumbo-Visma saw the group had no threat to the GC, a bunch of 23 riders went up the road, with many of the day's contenders in the front. The win was in the group as the peloton allowed the gap to grow exponentially. The collaboration was relatively smooth until the expected attacks, which came in the last 55 kilometers.

Eventually four riders managed to go clear, being ichael Matthews, Luis León Sánchez, Andreas Kron and Felix Grossschartner. Behind, in the penultimate climb the group managed to cut the 45-second gap to 25, with some attacks however with BORA - hansgrohe controlling every move and not allowing anyone to have freedom.

Three riders - as Kron punctured in the descent - reached the final climb with 30 seconds of lead. Matthews quickly went solo, later being caught by Alberto Bettiol who came from behind. The Italian seemed to have the win in the pocket as he dropped Matthews, however the Australian flew in the final 500 meters of the climb and went solo off the front.

This was one of Matthews' most impressive victories as a pro rider, with Alberto Bettiol and Thibaut Pinot arriving in the following positions.

In the peloton Jumbo-Visma took it easy all day long, until the penultimate climb where they accelerated and drained the peloton of most riders. However it was all to play for in the final climb, with UAE Team Emirates pushing the pace from the base and Tadej Pogacar launching an attack early on.

However, Vingegaard stuck to the Slovenian's wheel and managed to resist the surges once again. The duo rode into the finish together, with the remaining GC candidates arriving afterwards separated by few seconds.

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