Michael Matthews won the fight up the closing climb in Rodez to claim the Tour de France stage win for Team Sunweb. He charged past BMC Racing's Greg Van Avermaet to win by a bike length, with Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) in third.
Fabio Aru (Astana) was too far back in the field on the short, unranked climb to the finish line, and lost time, handing the yellow jersey back to Chris Froome (Sky). The British rider now leads by 19 seconds over Aru and 23 seconds over Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale).
It was Sunweb's second consecutive stage win after Warren Barguil's stage 13 triumph, and Matthews' second career Tour de France stage win.
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The race was marked early by a five man breakaway, with Thomas De Gendt the last rider caught with about 12km to go. Another small group formed near the end, but they were swept up as the Classics riders' teams powered their way up the steep 600 meters to the finish line.
Van Avermaet moved into the lead, preparing to repeat his 2015 success here, while John Degenkolb (Trek Segafredo) pulled on the left before suddenly losing power. Matthews had been on Van Avermaets' wheel and came around him ahead of the line.
Matthews and Van Avermaet were given the same time, and a high powered group finished only one second behind them, with not only Boasson Hagen but also Philippe Gilbert, Froome and Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac).
How it unfolded
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