Stage 14: Sweet Repeat For Australia
A breakaway of non-GC contenders broke out to a massive lead ahead of the peloton, and the yellow jersey, with Michael Matthews of Team BikeExchange proving the best of the bunch for a grinder win on Stage 14.
The route wandered into France’s massif central, a hilly part of the country known for sneaky difficult cycling. It’s a second top finish for Australia at this year’s Tour de France, Simon Clarke (IPT) having taken Stage 5.
Don’t be fooled by the lack of big mountains, Stage 14 is a beast.Michael Matthews looked cooked in the final kilometers, passed by a surging Alberto Bettiol (EF). But the Australian recovered his strength and the Italian did not, making for a dramatic comeback win.
Strong day: Louis Meintjes (IWG)The yellow jersey wearer Jonas Vingegaard and his Team Jumbo Visma showed no serious interest in pulling back the breakaway. Most of the top GC contenders were content to hang back and let stage win hopefuls claim the day. And many were hopeful –- a 23-man group found itself at the front with 150km to go. Notable among them was Louis Meintjes (IWG), top of the 23-man group in overall time. With a strong performance in Stage 14, Meintjes pulled himself up to 7th overall in time.
Elsewhere in the race the GC rankings remained in place with Jonas Vingegaard (JV), Tadej Pogacar (UAE), and Geraint Thomas (IGD) in positions 1, 2, and 3 overall. American Neilson Powless (EF) improved on overall time to 14th overall, claiming the best American overall time after fourteen stages from fellow countryman Sepp Kuss (17th, JV).
