And in the end, Michael Matthews wins.
The Australian rider won the 14th stage of the Tour de France between Saint-Étienne and Mende at the cost of a high-intensity duel with the Italian Alberto Bettiol.
The French Thibaut Pinot does not deserve and finishes on the third step of the podium.
This 14th stage got off to a flying start with an attack by Tadej Pogacar on the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard more than 180 km from the finish.
The Slovenian took advantage of a certain disorganization within the Jumbo-Visma formation which failed to reproduce the collective efforts of recent days.
Completely lonely, Jonas Vingegaard also lost a weighty teammate in the person of Primoz Roglic, in difficulty in the first difficulty of the day.
🤍 @TamauPogi is already trying to break up the peloton, 💛 Jonas Vingegaard has to chase the surprise attack back
🤍 @TamauPogi is already trying to shake up the peloton!
A surprised time, đź’› Jonas Vingegaard is hunting to come back.
#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/bCnYThYc1d
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 16, 2022
In order for his training to get back in working order, the green jersey Wout van Aert therefore decided to be left behind in order to wait for Roglic to bring him back to the yellow jersey group.
Opposite, Tadej Pogacar could count on the support of the UAE team with his teammates Brandon McNulty, Rafal Majka and Marc Soler, very strong.
The world upside down one could say with regard to the first 14 stages of this Tour de France where it was generally the Slovenian who had to compose alone.
Pinot in the chasing group
But there was still a long way to go.
Enough to see Jonas Vingegaard respond to Tadej Pogacar and unleash a substantial attack that the Slovenian however managed to control.
At the front, a massive breakaway of 20 riders formed, including several Frenchmen including Benoît Cosnefroy and Thibaut Pinot.
A leading group for a time led by the German Simon Geschke who consolidated his lead at the top of the mountain classification.
Several riders then dropped out of the breakaway to let a handful of men lead the race.
Behind, the group of pursuers became denser at the foot of the CĂ´te de la Croix Neuve with 14 competitors including Thibaut Pinot.
The Frenchman will not manage to make the junction but finishes in a good 3rd place.
We then head for a duel between Alberto Bettiol and Michael Matthews that the Australian will win.
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