Postpublished at 16:08 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
1km to go
There's a headwind in the final 1km or so, but no-one will catch Michael Matthews from here.
Summary
Stage 14: Saint-Etienne to Mende, 192.5km
Tough and hilly route with few flat sections
Five categorised climbs
Finish on top of Cote de la Croix Neuve
Vingegaard in leader's yellow jersey
Defending champion Pogacar second, 2mins 22secs behind
GB's Thomas third, 2mins 26secs adrift
Live Reporting
Chris Bevan
Postpublished at 16:08 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
Postpublished at 16:07 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
16:07 BST 16 July 20221.5km to go
Michael Matthews rides away from Bettiol. He's on his own now as he reaches the summit... he is out of sight, more than 20 seconds clear.
Postpublished at 16:06 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
16:06 BST 16 July 20221.8km to go
Matthews is a sprinter, so he will surely win any straight race on the flat... and he is back on Bettiol's wheel! Amazing.
Postpublished at 16:05 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
16:05 BST 16 July 20222.1km to go
Wow, Michael Matthews has given everything... he's not giving up either, with 600m of climbing to go. If he can stay close to Alberto Bettiol over the top of this mountain, then he has a chance on the flat final 1.5km of this stage.
Postpublished at 16:04 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
16:04 BST 16 July 20222.5km to go
1km to go to the top of this climb. Bettiol has attacked Matthews, but he can't quite drop him.
Postpublished at 16:03 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
16:03 BST 16 July 20222.6km to go
Alberto Bettiol has caught Matthews. He's staying on his wheel for now, but an attack will surely come soon.... yes, here it comes.
Postpublished at 16:02 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
16:02 BST 16 July 20222.8km to go
Alberto Bettiol is the only man who can stick with Michael Matthews' pace. Those two are on their own as they plough up the mountain.
Postpublished at 16:01 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
16:01 BST 16 July 20223.2km to go
The front three are still going hard. Michael Matthews is riding away from everyone else now.
Postpublished at 15:59 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
15:59 BST 16 July 20223.5km to go
Thibaut Pinot is there too, looking strong. Michael Woods is flying uphill and the front three are getting reeled in.
Postpublished at 15:58 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
15:58 BST 16 July 20224km to go
The gap to the front three is coming down fast, to 21 seconds. Michael Woods is leading the chase.
Postpublished at 15:57 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
15:57 BST 16 July 20224.5km to go
Here we go. It's 3km to the top... then 1.5km of flat to the finish.
Postpublished at 15:55 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
15:55 BST 16 July 20226km to go
The leading trio are about to start the final climb of the day, the Cote de la Croix Neuve.
Postpublished at 15:53 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
15:53 BST 16 July 20228km to go
A reminder of our front three - Felix Grossschartner, Luis Leon Sanchez and and Michael Matthews. They are 38 seconds clear.
Andreas Kron has recovered from his puncture and is in the first chase group, while Tom Pidcock has regained touch with the yellow jersey group.
Caleb Ewan? He is now 28 minutes and 30 seconds behind the leaders, and living dangerously with the time-cut.
Postpublished at 15:50 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
15:50 BST 16 July 202210.5km to go
Louis Meintjes is now down to fifth in the virtual classification, because of this acceleration by Jumbo-Visma. All the big hitters are near the front of the peloton, ready for some fireworks on Cote de la Croix Neuve, I imagine.
Tom Pidcock is the only man in the top 10 overall not to be in the mix.
Postpublished at 15:48 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
15:48 BST 16 July 202213km to go
The front three are 37 seconds clear, but there is a chase group of 13 riders that have come together behind them.
Postpublished at 15:45 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
15:45 BST 16 July 202218km to go
Wout van Aert is still leading the charge at the front of the peloton, and doing a lot of damage to the riders behind him. Britain's Tom Pidcock is one of those to lose touch.
Postpublished at 15:43 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
15:43 BST 16 July 202222km to go
Jumbo-Visma are increasing the pace at the front of the peloton. Wout van Aert is doing the heavy lifting at the moment.
Postpublished at 15:39 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
15:39 BST 16 July 202225km to go
Oh no... a puncture for Andreas Kron, which means no stage win for him. The front four is now a front three... who are 28 seconds clear of the chase group.
Postpublished at 15:38 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
15:38 BST 16 July 202226km to go
The race is really spread out now - the peloton are 14 minutes and 37 seconds behind the front four.
I might not get many more chances to mention poor old Caleb Ewan, but he is now more than 26 minutes behind the front of the race.
Postpublished at 15:36 British Summer Time 16 July 2022
15:36 BST 16 July 202228km to go
It won't last for long but worth mentioning that South African rider Louis Meintjes, who is 14th overall and started the day 15 minutes and 46 seconds behind race leader Jonas Vingegaard, is now in second place on the virtual classification.
We can expect to see the yellow jersey bunch wake up pretty soon and start to bring that gap down - there could be some fireworks from some of them on the final climb.