Michael Matthews ends five-year wait for Tour de France stage win as Jonas Vingegaard keeps yellow

• Michael Matthews rolls back the years with deserved win

• Jonas Vingegaard passes latest test to keep hold of yellow

• Geraint Thomas loses 17sec, but Briton still third overall

• Wout van Aert retains lead in points classification

• Simon Geschke still on top in the mountains

The stage was set at the Tour de France on Saturday for a serious examination of Jonas Vingegaard’s yellow jersey credentials. With temperatures in the mid- to high-30Cs, 192.5km of hot sticky roads through the Massif Central from Saint-Etienne to Mende, and a final climb so steep a police car’s engine caught fire on the way up, blocking the race route for a while as the local fire brigade worked to douse the flames, the Dane might well have melted.

Tadej Pogacar, the two-time Tour champion from whom Vingegaard snatched the race leader’s jersey on the Col du Granon on Wednesday, was always going to attack on the Cote de la Croix Neuve, the ferocious 3km climb up to Mende which has eye-watering pitches of 14 per cent. Vingegaard knew it was coming. We all knew it was coming.

It is another thing, though, doing something about it when it happens. Pogacar is one of the best climbers in the world on short, sharp ascents such as the one to Mende, where Briton Steve Cummings famously triumphed seven years ago. And once the elastic has snapped, you can lose 30 seconds in the blink of an eye.

Only, when the attack came, Vingegaard was the coolest man in town. Sticking to Pogacar’s wheel like glue, he never looked remotely like being dropped. And when they finally crested the summit, and swooped down onto Mende airfield and crossed the finish line together, Pogacar could only reach over and shake his rival’s hand.

So, if Pogacar is going to win this Tour - and it is looking less likely by the day - he is going to have to do it in the Pyrenees next week. After another long hot stage to Carcassonne on Sunday, which will interest the sprinters, the general classification battle will resume on Tuesday, after the race’s final rest day. But Vingegaard, the 25-year-old Dane who finished runner-up last year, looks well set from here. Not only does he have the strongest team at his disposal, and a 2min 22sec cushion, he looks to have the measure of Pogacar on the climbs as well.

“He did some good attacks,” was Vingegaard's verdict on his rival’s final assault, which was enough to drop every other general classification contender, including Ineos Grenadiers’ Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates, both of whom lost around 30 seconds. “But yeah, I could follow.”

He certainly could. It was not just here. It was the same at Longwy, at La Planche des Belles Filles, into Lausanne, Chatel, Megeve…Pogacar has attacked repeatedly and often at this Tour, sometimes winning a few bonus seconds, but never managing to shake Vingegaard. But when he had his off day on Wednesday, Jumbo-Visma and Vingegaard pounced. That looks like being the decisive day of this Tour.

By the time Pogacar and Vingegaard were duking it out, the day's winner Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) had already had time to shower and change.

The Australian, 31, was a hugely popular winner. It had been five years since the last of Matthews' four stage wins, during which time he had developed a reputation for being the Tour’s ‘nearly’ man. Even at this Tour, he had twice finished runner-up.

So it was a hugely emotional moment for him and for Australian cycling when he finished off a great day’s work, which consisted of him making the day’s breakaway, attacking it 60km or so from the finish to thin it out a bit, and then attacking again at the foot of the climb to catch his rivals by surprise.

Only Alberto Bettiol (EF Education Easy-Post) responded in time. The two engaged in a ferocious battle going up the climb, Matthews leading for most of it, only for Bettiol to pass him, only for Matthews to then come back past Bettiol again. It was a wonderful scrap.

“I had a chat with my wife last night and again this morning,” Matthews revealed later of his inspiration. “She said ‘You have to try something different and do something they don’t expect from you [if you want to win again].'

“So my wife and daughter were going through my mind all day. They sacrifice so much for me. We don’t get to spend enough time together. Hopefully today they’re proud of me, especially on that final climb when Bettiol went past me. I wanted to show my daughter that you don’t give up. Hopefully she’s proud of me.

“It was the longest 2km of this Tour de France for sure. I don’t know what else to say. Just a magical day.”

Perhaps Matthews’ win will inspire Pogacar, with whom the Australian trains. The two embraced warmly as Pogacar warmed down afterwards, exchanging a few words.

A couple of metres to Pogacar’s right, doing his own warm down, sat Vingegaard. The Dane looked over at them briefly and then got right back to his task. Vingegaard is proving to be ice cool even as the temperature rises.

Matthews wins in Mende: As it happened . . .

04:26 PM

Magnificent Meintjes marches into seventh

That very impressive performance today from Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) saw the South African move up to seventh on general classification, but may have ended his chances of getting into any breakaways next week. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) lost 17sec to second-placed Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), but the Welshman kept hold of his third spot.

04:20 PM

Honours even in race for yellow

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) trails Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) over the finishing line. The defending champion attempted to outsprint his great Danish rival, but the Slovenian was unable to cause any splits and so the two remain separated by 2min 22sec.

04:18 PM

Thomas presses on

Adam Yates has peeled off, leaving fellow Ineos Grenadiers rider Geraint Thomas to push on in pursuit of David Gaudu, while Nairo Quintana remain glued to the Welshman's rear wheel.

04:17 PM

Thomas labouring

Adam Yates is shepherding Geraint Thomas up this steep climb, but the pair have been dropped by David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ). Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), too, is looming.

04:16 PM

Pogacar attacks . . .

. .  but the maillot jaune marks him out. Louis Meintjes, by the way, finished 1min 12sec behind Michael Matthews, so he will be watching intently now to see what the time gap is back to Geraint Thomas, Romain Bardet et al, the South African should be breaking into the top 10 in the general classification, quite possibly the top five depending on the time gaps in today's stage.

04:14 PM

Vingegaard more than a match for Pogacar

Tadej Pogacar presses on on the steeper part of the climb, but Jonas Vingegaard is able to match him pedal stroke for pedal stroke. Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates have been dropped, but the British pair are up the road from Romain Bardet, David Gaudu and Enric Mas and so should not lose their positions on general classification, unless Louis Meintjes manages to gain a shedload of time on the pair.

04:11 PM

Pogacar poised to launch attack?

The maillot jaune is onto the final climb, Jonas Vingegaard is isolated and has no team-mates. Is he about to come under fire from Tadej Pogacar and is so (because he will) can he withstand the pressure?

04:08 PM

Matthews wins stage 14 at Tour de France!

Michael Matthews has done it, the Australian has ended his five-year wait for a stage win at the Tour de France.

Incredible performance from the BikeExchange-Jayco rider who attacked from over 50km out, was caught by three more riders, then counter-attacked on the final to regain the lead. Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), however, managed to bridge over from the chasing group and the Italian appeared to have got the better of Matthews, but the 31-year-old showed supreme resilience to inch ahead just shy of the summit before rolling towards the line, solo, where he added a fourth Tour stage to his palmarès. Bettiol rolled over in second place. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) was third.

Speaking afterwards, an emotional Matthews said: “In my career I've had so many rollercoasters up and down but my wife and my daughter, they kept believing in me. 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.”

04:06 PM

1.5km to go

Michael Matthews crests the summit of the Croix Neuve and has time and space between himself and Alberto Bettiol. Advantage Matthews who is showing true grit here.

04:05 PM

2km to go

Marc Soler is the third man on the road, but here comes Thibaut Pinot – but both are around 44sec down. Back at the front, Michael Matthews is in control.

04:03 PM

2.4km to go

Alberto Bettiol has gained around five or six bike lengths on Michael Matthews. The crowds are cheering on both of these gladiators, none of whom are shying away from the fight.

04:02 PM

2.5km to go

Alberto Bettiol goes beyond Michael Matthews, but they are still 1km from the top of this climb.

04:02 PM

2.5km to go

Alberto Bettiol has bridged over to Michael Matthews. What a ride from the Italian who is now sat on the wheel of the BikeExchange-Jayco man. Bettiol has never won at the Tour and cannot go all the way to the line with Matthews who has the stronger sprint.

04:00 PM

3km to go

Michael Matthews is sat on his hoods, out of his saddle fighting with this nasty climb. Incredibly, Alberto Bettiol is within 7sec of the Aussie.

03:59 PM

3.5km to go

Louis Meintjes is dropped from the chasing group. Michael Matthews grits his teeth on the front, pressing on and he has ridden away from Felix Grosschartner and Luis León Sánchez. Impressive stuff from the Australia who has twice finished as runner-up at this yea's Tour.

03:57 PM

4km to go

Felix Grosschartner, the Austrian national champion, Luis León Sánchez and Michael Matthews are onto the final climb. Further back Michael Woods, the Canadian puncheur, is out of his saddle and looks to be pressing down on his cranks with intent. The gap between the two groups drops to just 20sec.

03:55 PM

5km to go

Felix Grosschartner, Luis León Sánchez and Michael Matthews are continuing to ride hard on the front of the race, their lead growing out to 40sec. Louis Meintjes is refusing to give up in his chase for a podium place in the general classification, but we have that steep steep climb looming.

03:53 PM

6km to go – reminder of the finale

03:52 PM

8km to go

Tom Pidcock has managed to claw his way back into the maillot jaune's group. Felix Grosschartner, Luis León Sánchez and Michael Matthews lead the stage by 34sec, the reduced peloton is at 13min 54sec.

03:51 PM

Steve Cummings on Mende

Steve Cummings, who remember won this stage back in 2015, spoke to Tom Cary earlier this week. Recalling that famous stage win, he said: “I haven’t been back since – we didn’t recon it – so it will be nice. I remember it was a very emotional day. Relief almost. It came quite late in my career, at 35 years old. If it didn’t happen then it probably wouldn’t have happened for me. It definitely changed me, made me more confident, and also changed my stock as a rider, which made it a bit easier maybe for me after that. Because you get a bit more standing at teams so that makes things easier to plan and train and perform. It’s complicated for a rider who doesn’t sprint so fast or climb as fast as other riders to win at the Tour de France, so it’s pretty cool I was able to do it.”

03:49 PM

10km to go

Louis Meintjes, who is pretty much the only rider in the chasing group with too much to gain here today, clipped off the front as he shifted his way to the front in an attempt to chivvy things up.

03:47 PM

11km to go

Wout van Aert is hammering it on the front of the maillot jaune's group. Tadej Pogacar has two team-mates protecting him, while Geraint Thomas is alongside Ineos Grenadiers team-mates Adam Yates and Jonathan Castroviejo.

03:45 PM

15km to go

Felix Grosschartner, Luis León Sánchez and Michael Matthews are pressing on at the front of the stage. The trio has increased its lead over Louis Meintjes to 40sec, while the maillot jaune is at 13min 43sec.

03:43 PM

16km to go

Tom Pidcock is the latest who appears to be struggling. The young man looks cooked.

03:42 PM

18km to go

Wout van Aert has taken over on the front of the peloton, as a result the pace increase – of course it does – resulting in a number of riders getting shelled out of the back. Jumbo-Visma are definitely riding hard.

03:40 PM

20km to go

Jumbo-Visma inch their way up towards the summit of the Côte de la Fage. Christophe Laporte is out of his saddle, difficult to work out if they are riding hard or soft-pedalling. One rider who is not soft pedalling is Louis Meintjes who is a shade below 14 minutes up the road from the maillot jaune. Suspect UAE Team Emirates and Ineos Grenadiers will be starting to ride soon – none of them will be too keen on the South African moving up to second on general classification.

03:35 PM

26km to go

Louis Meintjes has moved up to second on the virtual general classification. Heartbreak for Andreas Kron (Lotto-Soudal) who has had a puncture and his chance of challenging for the stage looks to be over. Some great bike handling from the young Dane whose front tyre blew, forcing him to slow up as the road veered to the left.

03:32 PM

29.5km to go

Marc Soler attacks off the front of the Lennard Kämna group, but the German wastes little time in closing the Spaniard down along with Alberto Bettiol. Michael Matthews' lead has dropped to 21sec, the peloton is at 14min 35sec.

03:31 PM

30.5km to go

Michael Matthews et al are near to the summit, 28sec ahead of the Rigoberto Urán group. Louis Meintjes, meanwhile, has regained contact with the second group on the road and is within touching distance of a podium position in the general classification.

03:28 PM

31km to go

Rigoberto Urán counter-attacks just as a small group including Louis Meintjes was about to bridge over. Lennard Kämna and Daniel Martínez were able to match Urán pedal stroke for pedal stroke.

03:27 PM

32km to go

Louis Meintjes is dropped following a huge acceleration from former Tour of Flanders winner Alberto Bettiol. The Italian has team-mate Rigoberto Urán in his group as it inches up towards the top of the Côte de la Fage, while Lennard Kämna and a handful of others are sniffing around.

03:21 PM

35km to go

Stefan Küng's head is rolling , his mouth wide open as the Swiss attempts to take in as much oxygen as possible. In this heat that is going to hurt. The four-man group of stage leaders have gained 45sec on the chasers, while the peloton is now 13min 50sec down the road. Louis Meintjes is threatening to break into the top five of the general classification; good for my Velogames team, not such good news for the likes of Romain Bardet or Adam Yates.

03:15 PM

38.5km to go

Stefan Küng, the former European time trial champion, has assumed position on the front of the chasing group hoping to reel the stage leaders back in for Groupama-FDJ team-mate Thibaut Pinot. Küng, however, spent a long time in yesterday's breakaway and may not have the legs to do this.

03:12 PM

40km to go

All kicking off in the group formerly known as the breakaway. EF Education-EasyPost team-mates Alberto Bettiol and Neilson Powless formed a two-up time trial, before the pair were joined by Louis Meintjes and another rider. Having ridden hard for a couple of minutes, they eased up allowing the rest of the chasers to catch up. Back at the front of the race, Felix Grosschartner, Andreas Kron and Luis León Sánchez have bridged over to Michael Matthews and that is a very strong leading quartet.

03:07 PM

47.5km to go

All change in the chasing group, three riders – Felix Grosschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe), Andreas Kron (Lotto-Soudal) and Luis León Sánchez (Bahrain Victorious) – are in pursuit of stage leader Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco). The peloton is over 12min down the road.

03:03 PM

Kron responds

Andreas Kron (Lotto-Soudal) takes up the chase, taking with him Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech), Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) and Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost).

03:01 PM

52km to go

Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco) has attacked the breakaway, and nobody has responded. Has he gone too early, or is this the winning move from the Australian sprinter-puncheur?

02:57 PM

53km to go

The breakaway is coming back together, but the injection in pace following the attack from Quinn Simmons has seen their advantage over the maillot jaune increase to 11min 15sec. As it stands, Louis Meintjes has broken into the top 10 of the general classification, but will that be enough for the resurgent South African who finished second to Tom Pidcock on Alpe d'Huez on Thursday?

02:55 PM

57km to go

Simon Geschke (Cofidis) clips off just shy of the summit of the Côte de Grandrieu, adding two points to his tally in the mountains classification. Quinn Simmons follows in second place to take one point, before the young American counter-attacks over the other side. It looks as Simmons is trying to split the group up, or shed some of the dead wood, possibly on behalf of team-mate Bauke Mollema who may fancy the tough finale today.

02:47 PM

60km to go

For those unfamiliar with the gradient of the final climb of the day, here's a brief look at the all-important numbers of the Croix Neuve. The black section of road, by the way, are where the road is really steep, and by really steep, I mean up to 14 per cent. Anybody who arrives without the legs, will be dropped like a stone. Once over the top, there's a 1.5km drop to the line, though not too steep.

02:38 PM

65km to go

Patrick Konrad pulls along on the front of the breakaway, the Austrian national champion sits ahead of Louis Meintjes and Simon Geschke. Their lead over the maillot jaune has grown out to 10min 59sec. Still some distance to go yet, but I'm guessing a few riders will start thinking about splitting the group up soon, or working out how to save a few matches ahead of what should be a dramatic finale.

02:34 PM

Thirsty work

02:27 PM

70km to go

Having crested over a long uncategorised climb, the breakaway is about to roll into the beginning of the ascent of the Côte de Grandrieu. At 6.3km it is not the longest climb these riders will have tackled this week, but in these hot conditions and the pace at which they are racing, it may start to hurt. Their advantage over the peloton has inched out to 10min 41sec. The flags at the roadside are hinting at crosswinds, but possibly strong enough to cause damage.

02:20 PM

76.5km to go

Tiesj Benoot sucks on a bidon as he tows along his Jumbo-Visma team-mates on the front of the peloton which trails the breakaway by 10min 30sec. Caleb Ewan, meanwhile, has three Lotto-Soudal team-mates – Frederik Frison, Reinardt Janse van Rensburg and Tim Wellens – shepherding him along at 19min 8sec.

02:12 PM

Telegraph Sport almost brings Tour to a standstill!

Just heard from my colleague Tom Cary who endured a stressful drive up to the finishing line today. Apparently the race traffic was nose-to-nose on the Croix Neuve ascent. With pitches of up to 14 per cent, drivers were revving away while feathering their clutches, all to move five metres forward at a time. Eventually smoke started billowing out of Tom's bonnet, before a local bobby called the fire brigade.

Earlier in the day a police car had caught fire on the climb and, understandably, plod did not want a repeat – and nor did Telegraph Sport! Anyway, thankfully the pompiers turned up and poured some cold water on Tom's bonnet (not a euphemism) before he was able to continue to the press centre near the finish where he will, hopefully, be able to get himself an ice lolly and have a little sit down.

02:02 PM

Meintjes into the maillot jaune?

Louis Meintjes is the highest placed rider in general classification in the breakaway after starting the stage 15min 46sec behind Jonas Vingegaard, but will Jumbo-Visma be getting added to Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux's Christam card list later on today?

01:54 PM

95km to go

Nathan Van Hooydonck rides on the front of the peloton, with his Jumbo-Visma team-mates tucked in behind. The breakaway's lead edges above the 10-minute mark for the first time todays and, I think, during the whole of this year's race. Think it is safe to say the stage winner will be coming from the leading group, but that doesn't mean there will be no action in the battle for the yellow jersey.

01:45 PM

Soler stops at the ice cream van . . .

Marc Soler, the lone UAE Team Emirates man in the break, has been spotted riding along keeping himself cool with what looks like an ice lolly – possibly a Calippo, thought he would have preferred a Soler-o.

01:34 PM

105km to go

The breakaway's advantage over the lined-out peloton has increased to 9min 10sec. Not much chatting going on back in the main group suggesting that despite losing some time to the stage leaders, the pace is relatively high – or the riders are struggling in the heat.

01:32 PM

Wish you were here?

01:23 PM

112.5km to go

Interesting to not that three teams – Bora-Hansgrohe, EF Education-EasyPost and Israel-Premier Tech – each have a trio of riders in the breakaway, while Groupama-FDJ and Trek-Segafredo have two apiece. From a purely numbers perspective, you would have to favour riders from one of those teams to win the stage today. Thibaut Pinot will not have fond memories of the tough finale after he was pick-pocketed by Steve Cummings here in 2015. There are plenty of strong riders in here able to challenge for this type of stage.

01:17 PM

117.5km to go

It is extremely hot out on the road today and the temperature is expected to rise as the stage nears boiling point in Mende. Riders will need to keep hydrated throughout the afternoon. Jumbo-Visma were just spotted taking on some liquids.

01:11 PM

123km to go

That little Jakob Fuglsang group has been pulled back by the breakaway, the 23-man group now leads the peloton by 7min 32sec.

01:07 PM

130km to go

As the road pitched up on an unclassified stretch of road, Jakob Fuglsang shifted to the front of the breakaway and pressed down on the pedals a little harder in an effort to cause a split. Stefan Küng, Neilson Powless and Luis León Sánchez manage to go with the veteran monument winner, but I suspect they will be reined back in pretty soon – it is probably a little too early in the stage to blow the group to pieces, an with a stage win up for grabs nobody will be too keen on that quartet chipping off already.

01:00 PM

As it stands . . .

It was a fast and frenetic start to the stage with wave after wave of attacks flowing off the front of the peloton. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), for a while, was caught out as the group splintered and at one point trailed by 3min 30sec, but he has subsequently chased his was back into the group alongside his team-mates and race leader Jonas Vingegaard. There is less good news for Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) who has been dropped and trails the stage leaders by over 15 minutes now – the Australian sprinter faces a huge challenge if he is to avoid missing the time cut. He has no team-mates helping him, so ha may be saying ‘adieu’ to the Tour de France later on this afternoon.

Eventually a big breakaway formed and it leads the maillot jaune by 6min 48sec with 132.5km of the stage remaining.

That breakaway in full. . .

Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels-KTM), Benoît Cosnefroy (Ag2r-Citroën), Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech), Simon Geschke (Cofidis), Felix Grosschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe), Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Andreas Kron (Lotto-Soudal), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers), Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Luis León Sánchez (Bahrain Victorious),​ Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost) and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech).

08:30 AM

Hello

And welcome to our live rolling blog from stage 14 of the 109th Tour de France, the 192.5-kilometre run from Saint-Étienne to Mende.

For those who missed the action, or simply want to relive the stage, here is a short highlights reel . . .

Following two huge days in the Alps, the general classification riders had a relatively quiet day and there was not a single movement in the top 20. As a result, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) will be wear the maillot jaune, the leader's yellow jersey, for a third day running.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) will again be in the maillot vert, the green jersey, as overall leader of the points classification.

Simon Geschke (Cofidis) kept hold of the maillot à pois, or the polka dot jersey, as the leader of the mountains classification.

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), who has led the young rider classification since stage one, will be dressed in the white jersey.

So, what's on today's menu?

With five categorised climbs – Côte de Saint-Just-Malmont, Côte de Châtaignier, Côte de Grandrieu, Côte de la Fage and the Côte de la Croix Neuve – scattered over this long haul of a stage through the baking Massif Central, today will be a tough day in the saddle for what must be an exhausted peloton. Although there are no major passes, the rolling terrain features over 3,500 metres in vertical elevation and so if a breakaway rider is to prevail, then he will be one of the stronger riders in the peloton, your Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) or Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) type of rider.

The final climb has produced some excited racing over the years, and I would ne be surprised to see general classification riders lose time here. Although short at just 3km long, the steep gradients that nudge the 14 per cent will bite. It will be fascinating to see how Pogacar tackles the climb, with most assuming he will try to test the maillot jaune. Elsewhere in the leading riders in the general classification, a certain young Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), who starts the day in eighth at 7min 39sec is unlikely to be allowed to get in any breakaway, but should the race come together near the end he may be able to launch a late assault. It was his directeur sportif Steve Cummings, who will be sat in the team cars today, who memorably won here in 2015 after ambushing Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet.

And finally, the weather. . .

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