Denmark’s Lasse Norman Hansen and Elmar Reinders of the Netherlands launched an immediate attack as the 159 kilometre stage began in Menziken.

Hansen had been part of a five-man breakaway which had come to a premature end yesterday, but his latest effort proved more successful.

Hansen and Reinders built up an advantage of over nine minutes during the stage, but the peloton began to close on the duo as their effort became more dangerous.

The pairing was eventually caught as the race approached the 10km to go mark, setting up a sprint finish in Bern.

A rapid pace heading towards the finish prevented any further attacks from the peloton, with sprinters heading to the front to contest the victory.

Matthews would emerge as the victor on the uphill finish, ending the race in a time of 3 hours, 49min and 48sec.

World champion Peter Sagan of Slovakia and Germany’s John Degenkolb finished on the same time as the winner in second and third place respectively.

The stage win also propelled Matthews into the overall race lead, due to receiving bonus seconds for the victory.

He now leads the general classification by 10sec from the Netherlands’ Tom Dumoulin, who recently won the Giro d’Italia.

Sagan is a further second back.

The International Cycling Union WorldTour race will continue tomorrow with a 150km stage from Bern to Villars-sur-Ollon.