Froome holds 18-second lead over Aru at top of General Classification
Wednesday 19 July 2017 09:04, UK
Michael Matthews won stage 16 of the Tour de France to Romans-sur-Isere as Chris Froome fought off fierce crosswinds to protect the yellow jersey.
Australian Matthews (Team Sunweb) won his second stage of this year's Tour in a sprint finish ahead of Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) and German John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo).
The peloton battled strong winds over lengthy stretches of the 165 kilometres stage from Le Puy-en-Velay, but three-time Tour winner Froome stayed on the right side as the peloton split into pieces over the final 20km.
Froome's Team Sky did much of the work to cause those splits, with Irishman Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) caught on the wrong side as he surrendered 51 seconds and dropped to seventh overall, now two minutes and three seconds back.
That saw Bury's Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) move up to sixth in the best young riders' white jersey, one second ahead of Martin.
Froome leads the Tour, the closest in history at this stage in the race, by 18 seconds from Italian national champion Fabio Aru, with Frenchman Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) a further five seconds back. Colombian Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac) is fourth, only 29 seconds down.
Team Sky had upped the pace with a little over 20 kilometres remaining to cause the decisive split as only 22 riders made it into the front group.
Jack Bauer did his best to drag Martin back up to the leaders, but Martin could not keep up with his Quick-Step Floors team-mate.
Two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador was also dropped, a day after his Trek-Segafredo sports director Steven de Jongh told Dutch television this would be the Spaniard's final Tour.
It proved a hugely profitable day for Matthews, who cut his deficit in the points classification from 79 to 29 as Marcel Kittel struggled in the green jersey, finishing in a group more than 16 minutes behind the leaders.
Team Sunweb had ensured no breakaway could get away early in the day as they sought to deliver Matthews to the intermediate sprint, and once news came through of Kittel's struggles, they upped the pace further to ensure the Quick-Step Floors rider could not get back.
A nervy peloton hung together until the final run-in to the finish, when Sky began to pull away, causing a scramble behind as others tried to get on.
Bardet needed a big turn from AG2R La Mondiale team-mate Oliver Naesen to avoid being left behind himself.
With so few riders in the front group it was a selective sprint, but still a very close one as it took a photo finish to separate Matthews from Boasson Hagen.
It is the second sprint Team Dimension Data's Boasson Hagen has lost by the narrowest of margins in this Tour, and will be particularly disappointing for his South African-based team as they hoped to replicate Steve Cummings' Mandela Day win from 2015.
Tour de France stage 16 result
1. Michael Matthews (AUS/Team Sunweb) 3hrs 38mins 15 secs
2. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/Dimension Data) same time
3. John Degenkolb (GER/Trek-Segafredo) st
4. Greg van Avermaet (BEL/BMC Racing) st
5. Christophe Laporte (FRA/Cofidis) st
6. Jens Keukeleire (BEL/Orica-Scott) st
7. Tony Gallopin (FRA/Lotto-Soudal) st
8. Tiesj Benoot (BEL/Lotto-Soudal) st
9. Maciej Bodnar (POL/Bora Hansgrohe) st
10. Romain Hardy (FRA/Trek-Segafredo) st
General Classification after stage 16:
1. Chris Froome (GBR/Team Sky) 68hrs 18mins 36secs
2. Fabio Aru (ITA/Astana Pro Team) +18secs
3. Romain Bardet (FRA/AG2R La Mondiale) +23secs
4. Rigoberto Uran (COL/Cannondale-Drapac) +29secs
5. Mikel Landa (SPA/Team Sky) +1min 17secs
6. Simon Yates (GBR/Orica-Scott) +2mins 2secs
7. Daniel Martin (IRE/Quick-Step Floors) +2mins 3secs
8. Louis Meintjes (SAF/UAE Team Emirates) +6mins 0secs
9. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BMC Racing) +6mins 5secs
10. Nairo Quintana (COL/Movistar) +6mins 16secs
