The riders at the Tour de France returned to action today after the second rest day and Michael Matthews made it three wins for Team Sunweb at this year’s race after sealing the victory today in Romans-sur-Isère.
On a challenging day, the race split in crosswinds with green jersey wearer Marcel Kittel getting caught out behind, providing Matthews with the opportunity to reduce the lead in the points competition.
Team Sunweb’s intentions became clear in the early stages of the day with the team neutralising breakaways, setting the tempo at the front for its entirety, marking last minute attacks and positioning Matthews perfectly to finish off the job.
Matthews outsprinted Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) and John Degenkolb (Trek – Segafredo) at the end of the 165-kilometre stage for his second stage win of the race
“Today our plan was open and we were prepared for different scenarios, as it was difficult to predict how the stage would unfold,” explained Matthews.
“Once we heard that there were splits in the peloton we were all really motivated to push on and extend the gap. From then on it was an eight-man team time trial to the finish and I was able to finish off the job in the last 500 metres. I’m so grateful for these opportunities and to take the win after the guys worked incredibly hard today is really special.”
Team Sunweb’s Tour de France coach Aike Visbeek said: “This is definitely a team victory today. We had nine guys that went full gas for the entire day and we can be extremely proud of the outcome. We knew that there could be a scenario where sprinters could dropped on the first climb and the team knew that if that was the case, they would go for it.
“It’s a really impressive performance from the entire team and I’m pleased that Michael was able to finish off their hard work.”
