Michael Matthews went into the Tour de Suisse looking for his second win of the season, and while the BikeExchange-Jayco rider may have taken some satisfaction from his podium finish early in the race, his narrow second place on stage 4 was a source of frustration, not joy He couldn't hide it.

The difference in Matthews' third place on stage 2 was not only that Team DSM's Andreas Reknesund had won solo and the victory was decided before the sprint, but also that the 31-year-old Matthews was not "100% on target" on the day because a better stage was coming up That is.

Wednesday's 191-km stage from Grenchen to Brunnen was one of those better stages and, at least until the final corner, appeared to be going according to plan.

Matthews was in a group of 60 riders heading for the finish line after climbing the category 2 Sattel Pass, which has a summit just 14 km from the finish.

"I fought hard to get over the final climb. My teammates and I picked up the pace on the climb and brought it into a sprint. [I had to start sprinting with about 400 or 500 to go to be in contention for the win. I had the speed and the legs, but I made a stupid mistake on the last corner."

"I had the speed and the legs, but I made a stupid mistake on the last corner.

He came very close to Daryl Impey in that long sprint, but there was not enough time to catch the Israeli Premier Tech rider and he had to settle for second place.

Matthews congratulated Impey, his former Australian teammate, but it was no easy near miss for Bike Exchange-Jayco.

However, Bike Exchange-Jayco sport director Matt Hayman said, "It's a shame we lost so close in the last sprint.

"It was really hard to pick a stage today. It was touch and go to see if the sprinters could make it over the final climb. It was good to see how Michael was doing, but it was disappointing to miss out on the win by such a small margin.

Second place on stage 4 was Matthews' third podium of the season and his eighth top three stage finish in seven previous appearances.

The 2022 Tour de Suisse, which also serves as Matthews' preparation for the Tour de France, is now at the halfway point. However, with important uphill stages and time trials coming up, even for a sprinter like Matthews who excels at climbing, the chances of another victory are dwindling.

Stage 5, 193km from Ambri to Novazzano, features a series of nearly 3,000m climbs, including the Category 2 Monte Chenelli climb peaking at 66km and the Category 3 Pedrinate repeated three times in the last 70km. In addition, stage 6 features the high mountain of the Nufenenpass in the middle of the 177.5 km route, and more high mountains until the finish in Moosalp (18 km, 8%).

Stage 7, Amuri to Malbun, is the final day in the mountains, with a grueling pass early in the 194.6km stage, followed by more climbing to the summit finish in Malbun.

The race concludes on Sunday with a mostly flat 26 km time trial that starts and finishes in Valdus.