Michael
Matthews took his second stage of the Tour de France with victory on
stage 16, as Britain's Chris Froome retained the leader's yellow jersey.
Tuesday's stage came alive at the end as crosswinds split the peloton before Matthews held off Edvald Boasson Hagen.Wednesday's stage 17 features two 'hors categorie' climbs including the Col du Galibier at 2,642 metres.
As it is the penultimate stage in the mountains, Froome can expect to see his rivals go on the attack.
The defending champion leads Italy's Fabio Aru by 18 seconds, with France's Romain Bardet a further five seconds back with five stages to go.
On Tuesday, points leader Marcel Kittel was dropped early on a bad day for his Quick-Step team, with Dan Martin also losing time on the leaders.
The German sprinter was looking for his sixth stage win but Matthews' Sunweb team pulled hard to distance him, with the Australian also winning the intermediate sprint to move within 29 points of Kittel in the green jersey points classification.
Ireland's Martin was caught behind a split on the run-in to Romans-sur-Isere and dropped to seventh overall as Britain's Simon Yates moved up to sixth and extended his lead in the best young rider's white jersey competition.
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