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Michael Matthews prevailed in a late sprint to win Stage 16 while leader Chris Froome retained the yellow jersey in Tuesday's competition at the Tour de France. The Aussie narrowly defeated Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway and John Degenkolb of Germany to win the 102.5-mile stage that ended in Romans-sur-Isere. It was Matthews' second stage victory in this year's Tour.
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"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."
The trio was packed in tightly toward the finish and Degenkolb thought he had a chance to overtake Matthews. But he made some tactical decisions that thwarted Degenkolb and protected his lead.
"I was on his wheel and I was in the perfect position to launch the sprint at 200 meters, and I started the sprint," Degenkolb said. "Clearly I came with more speed than him from his wheel, and he saw me on the right side and closed the gap on the right side."
The maneuvering led to an exchange of words between Degenkolb and Matthews.
"It's just in the heat of the situation. You are obviously very angry if you cannot go for the victory," Degenkolb said. "If you know you have the legs to overtake him, that's very disappointing.
"For me it's very clear. You see he is going off his line into my line. You can see it on television."
Meanwhile, Froome holds an 18-second lead with Sunday's final stage coming into view. The next two days will prove arduous for the three-time Tour de France winner with cycling going through the high altitude of the Alps so keeping a solid lead was important for the Brit.
Italian Fabio Aru is in second place while Frenchman Romain Bardet is 23 seconds behind in third. Colombia's Rigoberto Uran lurks in fourth, just 29 seconds behind Froome.
Irish cyclist Dan Martin had a rough day to fall off the pace. He lost 51 seconds during the stage to drop to seventh place, 2:03 behind Froome.
