Matthews worked hard and showed good form to remain at the front of the bunch as they wound their way up the finishing ascent of the Cote du Stade Olympique, starting his sprint with 150 metres left.
But it wasn't to be once again, with van Aert tearing through to win the day ahead of Matthews in second and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) in third, it was another frustrating runner-up finish for the Australian after Pogacar beat him in a similar finish on Stage 6 just days before.
"I learnt from two days ago that I really need to start my sprint first," Matthews said after the stage.
"I gave it a shot from the front and started my sprint first but just got beaten by Wout [Van Aert] on the line. I honestly don’t think I made a mistake today, I did everything I could, there was just a stronger rider in the bike race today, so I wouldn’t take anything back.
"I think it was around 200m to go, it looked like a lot of guys, Tadej [Pogacar] and Wout were boxed on the left a little bit, so I was hoping I could get a little bit of a jump, but I just wasn’t quick enough.
“Obviously we’re here to win, I’m here to win. I don’t come here to come second. That’s how it’s been so far, I got beaten by an amazing rider two days ago in Tadej and another super-freak today with Wout. I think next time it’s my turn.”
While it wasn't a victory, Matthews' second place was a good team result for BikeExchange-Jayco, whose plan on the day was to get their versatile sprinter in a position to go for the win that continues to elude him at this year's Tour de France.
Once the three-man breakaway of Mattia Cattaneo (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious) and Fredrik Frison (Lotto Soudal) had got away, Chris Juul-Jensen (BikeExchange-Jayco) was quick to get to the front of the peloton and start pulling to limit the gap stretching out.
Then it was Luke Durbridge's turn to pull on the front over the summit of the Col de Petra Felix, the gap to the breakaway steadily beginning to drop given the commanding pace of the Australian team.
Once the riders were on the final climb, Matthews benefited from the work of Jack Bauer, Luka Mezgec and Nick Schultz to position him perfectly to challenge for the win.
Team director Matt White was a proud man when he looked back on the efforts of his riders, as they all executed the plan to reel in the breakaway and deliver Matthews into a winning position perfectly.
"Our guys rode a very, very good race," White told SBS after the stage.
"We wanted to set it up for Michael, we know he's in great condition and those sort of finishes are perfect for him.
"We wanted to make sure there was no breakaway, or a very small breakaway and it was a real big team effort to keep everything under control.
"Everyone had their role and they executed it very, very well and gave Michael the best opportunity to win the stage, and Michael took that opportunity and he should be proud."
The Tour de France continues with Stage 9, a tough day in the mountains from Aigle to Châtel les portes du Soleil. Watch the racing action on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker from 8.20pm AEST, with the SBS broadcast and SBS On Demand livestream beginning at 8.30pm.
