TOUR DE FRANCE
Australian Michael Matthews at the double for stage win
Romans-sur-Isère — Australian Michael Matthews won his second stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday and closed in on the green jersey held by Marcel Kittel. Chris Froome retained the overall lead in a finale baulked by crosswinds that resulted in contenders Daniel Martin and Alberto Contador losing time. Matthews edged a photo finish ahead of Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen, already denied by the cameras in stage seven when Kittel won, with John Degenkolb third. It was a selective group that reached the finish together after Matthews’ Sunweb team set a fast early pace to drop Kittel on the opening third-category climb, and then crosswinds in the final 15km scattered groups all over the road. There were casualties among the top 10 as Martin, South African Louis Meintjes and Contador were caught out in the wind. Frenchman Romain Bardet was almost caught out but was paced back to the lead group by teammate Oliver Naesen, while Fabio Aru had to bridge a small gap by himself. The Italian ...
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