The stage to Estibaliz initially went fairly smoothly with an early breakaway that got a maximum lead of four minutes. After the breakaway had been caught, Team Jumbo-Visma took control of the peloton to bring Bennett to the foot of the final climb in the best possible position. A massive crash with a few GC-riders tarnished the final. No Team Jumbo-Visma riders were involved. However, earlier in the stage Sepp Kuss was involved in an other crash. He finished the stage with abrasions on his back and hip.

“The team did an excellent job for George today”, Frans Maassen said. “Today was the longest stage and a breakaway went clear pretty early. Bora and Deceuninck-QuickStep controlled the stage most of the day. In the last twenty kilometres, we were well-positioned in the front of the peloton as the road was quite narrow and there was quite some wind. The boys did their job perfectly and put George in a good position at the foot of the final climb. By taking the initiative in the final, we also stayed out of trouble with that big crash.”