Tour de France: Vingegaard holds onto yellow jersey, Matthews wins stage after five year wait

The pack waits for the start with on the front row from left Denmark's Mads Pedersen as the most combative rider of yesterday's stage, Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the best young rider's white jersey, Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, Belgium's Wout Van Aert, wearing the best sprinter's green jersey, and Germany's Simon Geschke, wearing the best climber's dotted jersey, prior to the fourteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 192.5 kilometers (119.6 miles) with start in Saint-Etienne and finish in Mende, France, Saturday, July 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Michael Matthews rode away from Alberto Bettiol at the top of the steep climb to the airfield in Mende to win his first Tour de France stage in five years.

Stage 15 was another one to be contested from a breakaway and it was Australian Matthews who was the strongest in the searing heat, striking out first on the final three kilometre climb, where gradients were consistently in double figures.

Bettiol put in an attack to come from a chasing group and briefly got in front of Matthews, but faded towards the summit, allowing Matthews to swing by and have time to celebrate on the runway.

Behind, Jonas Vingegaard marked an attack from Tadej Pogacar to retain the yellow jersey, but Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates both lost time on the final climb as the main contenders came in more than 12-and-a-half minutes behind.

Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates squad had managed to isolate Vingegaard coming onto the final climb, and the defending champion launched his attack around a third of a way up the climb.

Vingegaard immediately latched onto his wheel and sat there all the way to the line, but neither Thomas nor Yates could live with the pace, falling into the clutches of David Gaudu and Nairo Quintana behind as Thomas lost 17 seconds and Yates 22.

This was a fourth Tour stage victory for Matthews, 31, and first since stage 16 in 2017. A rider who made his name winning bunch sprints showed his maturity on the climb, remaining calm when Bettiol came by him and pacing his way back before breaking clear again by the summit.

"In my career I've had so many rollercoasters up and down but my wife and my daughter, they kept believing in me," said Matthews, who was second on both stages six and eight. "How many times have I been smashed down and all the time I get back up.

"This was for my daughter today. She's four years old and I really just wanted to show her why I'm away all the time, to show her what it's for. Today was that day...

"I wanted to show everybody I'm not just a sprinter. I can ride like I rode today."