Australian Michael Matthews won stage 16 of the Tour de France on Tuesday, while Britain’s Chris Froome retained the leader’s yellow jersey.
Matthews narrowly beat Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen in a photo finish to the 165km stage.
‘Normally, when I’m in Tours I can win one stage, but the second one is always hardest to get,’ Matthews said afterwards. ‘To get my second in three days, I don’t really know. I think it won’t really sink in until tomorrow.
‘I was trying to go into the breakaway but Quick-Step were covering me because they didn’t want me to get the points. Then, I heard that [Marcel] Kittel was getting dropped so I really started to put the pressure on.
‘When I heard he had been dropped by one minute over the top of the climb, we decided to start pulling, because if he’s out of the race then it makes it easier for me to take the sprint.
‘I took the intermediate and we got the final also. We got 50 points today in the intermediate and the sprint.’
With five stages remaining, Froome retains an 18-second lead over Italy’s Fabio Aru and a 23-second lead over France’s Romain Bardet in the overall classification.
South Africa’s Louis Meintjes is sixth, six minutes behind Froome.
Stage 16 result:
1. Michael Matthews (Aus/Sunweb) 3hrs 38mins 15secs
2. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Dimension Data) Same time
3. John Degenkolb (Ger/Trek-Segafredo)
4. Greg van Avermaet (Bel/BMC)
5. Christophe Laporte (Fra/Cofidis)
6. Jens Keukeleire (Bel/Orica)
7. Tony Gallopin (Fra/Lotto Soudal)
8. Tiesj Benoot (Bel/Lotto Soudal)
9. Maciej Bodnar (Pol/Bora)
10. Romain Hardy (Fra/Fortuneo-Oscaro)
General classification after stage 16:
1. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) 68hrs 18mins 36secs
2. Fabio Aru (Ita/Astana) +18secs
3. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) +23secs
4. Rigoberto Uran (Col/Cannondale-Drapac) +29secs
5. Mikel Landa (Spa/Team Sky) +1min 17secs
6. Simon Yates (GB/Orica) +2mins 02secs
7. Dan Martin (Ire/Quick-Step) +2mins 03secs
8. Louis Meintjes (SA/Team UAE Emirates) +6mins 00secs
9. Damiano Caruso (Ita/BMC) +6mins 05secs
10. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) +6mins 16secs
Photo: letour_uk
