Aussie wins Tour stage, Bennett still 11th
New Zealand rider George Bennett remains in 11th place overall in the Tour de France after Australian Michael Matthews won the 14th stage.
Matthews burst clear of Greg Van Avermaet on the steep finish to the stage, a 181.5km ride from Blagnac.
Bennett was 25th and is still 11th in the general classification 6min 39sec behind leader Chris Froome (England) and one place adrift of the controversial Alberto Contador.
Matthews said he’d targeted the stage win all year, and trained specifically for the last climb.
He described his emotions crossing the line as ‘‘disbelief’’.
He was so assured of victory that he sat up at the end and cruised over the line.
‘‘I’ve been dreaming of winning like that since I started cycling,’’ he said. ’’I could sit up and enjoy the win in the Tour de France. It’s not every day that can happen.’’
It is a second victory in as many days for Team Sunweb after Frenchman Warren Barguil delivered on Bastille Day in Foix on Friday.
And it is a second career Tour stage win for Matthews, who said this day had been his main target since the start of the year.
‘‘A lot of planning went into this day,’’ he said. ’’It wasn’t just today. It was weeks, months, to be able to deliver at the finish like that, from my whole team and my personal effort too.’’
Froome reclaimed the overall lead after he left Italian Fabio Aru trailing in a punchy finish.
The defending champion finished seventh, one second behind Matthews as Aru, who started the day with the yellow jersey on his shoulders, lost 25 seconds to the Briton in the final effort, a 600m climb at an average gradient of 9.6 per cent.
Overall, Froome now leads Aru by 18 seconds and last year’s runner-up Romain Bardet by 23 seconds after the Frenchman finished five seconds off the pace.
He lost his jersey in the Pyrenees after enduring a bad day on the road to the ski station of Peyragudes.
‘‘I need to say thank you to my teammates who rode at the front in the final 10 kilometres,’’ he said.
‘‘In the final climb we made a big difference on other favourites. Every second counts at this Tour.’’