The Sunweb team worked the whole day on Tuesday, pulling the peloton forward to keep Marcel Kittel behind. Crosswinds made it a wonderful finale with Chris Froome and other GC contenders in it for the victory. It was Matthews who was victorious though, beating Edvald Boasson Hagen, and claiming 50 points in the process. Suddenly, there were only 29 points between Kittel and the Australian promising us a fine competition in the days to come.
Unfortunately, Marcel Kittel had to abandon the race altogether the very next day. The German pro, who won five stages this year, crashed before the first climb of the Col d’Ornon, damaging his right shoulder.
“I can say I’m very disappointed. I don’t know how to describe my feelings at the moment. To go home with five stage victories is an exceptional result but to go home after a crash and without arriving to Paris is a disappointment,“ Kittel said after the stage.
Since then it was smooth sailing for Matthews. The peloton headed for the Alps the next day with Warren Barguil winning at Col d‘Izoard. Nothing changed in the points classification and unless some accident befalls Matthews, he’s going to take it all the way to the Champs-Élysées.
Current Points classification standings
1. Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) 364 points
2. André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) 204 points
3. Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) 163 points
4. Alexander Kristoff Team (Katusha Alpecin) 158 points
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Dimension Data) 140 points
