Matthews at the double, Froome keeps yellow jersey
Romans-sur-Isère, France - Australian Michael Matthews won his second stage of the 2017 Tour de France on Tuesday and closed in on the green jersey held by Marcel Kittel.
Chris Froome retained the overall lead in a hectic finale to stage 16 baulked by crosswinds that saw contenders Daniel Martin and Alberto Contador lose time.
Matthews edged a photo finish ahead of Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen, already denied by the cameras in stage seven when Kittel won, with John Degenkolb third. "It was a great day, it went ten times better than was planned," said Matthews.
On top of that, Matthews claimed another 50 points in the sprinters' green jersey competition to close to 29 points behind Quick-Step's Kittel.
The crosswinds got rid of other top sprinters Andre Greipel and Alexander Kristoff, leaving little competition for Matthews at the finish.
Frenchman Romain Bardet was almost caught out but was paced back to the lead group by team-mate Oliver Naesen, while Fabio Aru had to bridge a small gap by himself.
The Italian remains second at 18 seconds with Bardet third at 23 seconds.
Froome's Spanish team-mate Mikel Landa reclaimed fifth place from Martin, who dropped to seventh, while Nairo Quintana climbed back into the top ten at the expense of Contador.