Démare earned his second straight victory in a mass sprint but, just as in Thursday's sixth stage when Matthews was outpaced in the denouement and came home as runner-up, the 30-year-old from Canberra was again soundly defeated in the race for the line as he finished third behind Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe).
At the end of the mostly flat 143-kilometre leg from Matera to Brindisi, Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step) was left holding onto the overall leader's pink jersey.
Almeida remains 43 seconds ahead of Spain's Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Maclaren), with Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb) still the best-placed Australian in the GC in 11th place, 1 minute 33 seconds behind the leader
Hindley's team mate Matthews is third in the battle for the points classification behind Sagan and runaway leader Démare.
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"My teammates have made the difference even more than the great confidence I have these days," the Frenchman said.
"We had to exchange the positions of the lead out men in the finale. There was some elbow to elbow. With the head wind to finish with, it wasn't an easy task.
"I opened my sprint at a right time. I felt the presence of Peter Sagan close to me. I'm happy I made it again. It is extraordinary."
