In a stage that was always likely to end in a bunch sprint after 193 kilometres from Flims to Schwarzenbach, Orica's Matthews edged out stage three winner Sagan and Belgium's Greg van Avermaet.
Sagan came into the sprint as the favourite with already ten Swiss stage successes to his name but Matthews hunted him down in the final few metres to take his first victory at the event.
Dutchman Dumoulin leads Sagan, who took a time bonus on the line, by just a single second in the overall standings with Spaniard Daniel Moreno third.
However, the general classification is expected to be turned on its head after Wednesday's torturous 237-kilometre mountainous stage that will see the overall contenders come to the fore.
Frenchman Thibaut Pinot, third at last year's Tour de France, will expect to shine with less than three weeks to go before the Grand Boucle begins.
He's ideally placed at fourth overall, 15 seconds back from Dumoulin, and showed last month he has good climbing legs as he won a mountainous stage at Switzerland's Tour de Romandie.
CYCLING
Aussie wins fourth stage of Tour de Suisse
Australia's Michael Matthews out-sprinted Slovak Peter Sagan to win the fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse cycling race on Tuesday as Dutchman Tom Dumoulin maintained his overall lead.
CYCLING
Swiss rider dies after fall into ravine on Tour of Switzerland
Swiss rider Gino Maeder has died from the injuries he sustained when he plunged into a ravine during a stage of the Tour of Switzerland, his team Bahrain-Victorious said on Friday.
Maeder, 26, fell during a high-speed descent on the fifth stage between Fiesch and La Punt on Thursday, after an exhausting day marked by three ascents over 2,000 metres altitude.
He had been found “lifeless in the water” of a ravine below the road, “immediately resuscitated then transported to the hospital in Chur by air”, organisers said.
But the next day, “Gino lost his battle to recover from the serious injuries he sustained,” Bahrain-Victorious said in a statement.
“It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we must announce the passing of Gino Mäder,” his team wrote in a statement.
“On Friday June 16th, following a very serious fall during the fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse, Gino lost his fight to recover from the serious injuries he had suffered. Our entire team is devastated by this tragic accident, and our thoughts and prayers are with Gino’s family and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.”
“Despite the best efforts of the phenomenal staff at Chur hospital, Gino couldn’t make it through this, his final and biggest challenge, and at 11:30am we said goodbye to one of the shining lights of our team,” the team said in a statement.
🙏🏻 Gino, thank you for the light, the joy, and the laughs you brought us all, we will miss you as a rider and as a person.
❤️ Today and every day, we ride for you, Gino.
🔗 https://t.co/CSx5BsWfRz pic.twitter.com/caBmfmWwyg
— Team Bahrain Victorious (@BHRVictorious) June 16, 2023
Maeder had enjoyed a strong start to the season, finishing fifth in the Paris-Nice race.
American rider Magnus Sheffield also fell on the same descent from Albula, during the most difficult stage of the race with multiple climbs. The Ineos-Grenadiers rider was hospitalised with “bruises and concussion,” organisers said.
On Thursday, world champion Remco Evenepoel criticised the decision to compete on such a dangerous road.
“While a summit finish would have been perfectly possible, it wasn’t a good decision to let us finish down this dangerous descent,” the Belgian wrote on Twitter.
“As riders, we should also think about the risks we take going down a mountain.”
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