Australia

Australia’s Matthews third on Stage 16 of Tour de France, closes in on green jersey



Australia’s Michael Matthews has finished third on stage 16 of the Tour de France, a 169km mountain trek from Pas de la Casa, to edge slightly closer to the green sprinters’ jersey held by Mark Cavendish.

Matthews pinched a podium place from Frenchman Pierre-Luc Périchon in the final sprint.

The Frenchman slipped to fourth as both Matthews and Italy’s Sonny Colbrelli stormed past him.

But the stage belonged to Austrian rider Patrick Konrad, who joined an early breakaway then attacked by himself to take out a stage-defining lead.

The Bora-Hansgrohe rider took off on his own and the chasing pack never got close as he claimed his first stage win in any race outside his native Austria.

“It’s my first win in a world tour at the biggest cycling race in the world,” Konrad said.

“I am really speechless, the victory is for my family, my friends, all my believers and also Bora, they always give me the trust and always told me to fight for it.”

Asked about going out on his own, he said having seen other riders do so successfully in this Tour he felt it was worth the risk.

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“I was already three times in the break and was always waiting until the final and that was always not the best decision,” he said.

“Today I said to myself ‘OK I am the guy’ and I gave it a try and I am really happy it worked out and I had the legs to bring it to the finish.

Matthews was part of a group of 10 riders who were left to chase Konrad but never seriously threatened to close on the leader.

However he did close on English star Cavendish in the race for the green jersey, with 35 points on the stage to zero for the “Manx Missile”, and cut the gap between them to 37 points ahead of what looms as a gruelling stage 17 with a mountaintop finish at Col du Portet.

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Tadej Pogačar kept his grip on the yellow jersey with none of his main rivals making any time on him.

Pogačar leads the Tour from Colombian Rigoberto Uran by 5 minutes, 18 seconds, with Australia’s Ben O’Connor fifth overall at 5:58.



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