In the general classification, Wout van Aert kept his second place and the white jersey for the best youth rider.

The stage was co-controlled by Team Jumbo-Visma. Tony Martin put in a lot of effort to chase down the breakaway and kept the advantage of the three leaders at less than four minutes. Team Jumbo-Visma did not get the sprint train on track in the streets of Nancy, which meant that Groenewegen had to start his sprint from too far back.

The sprinter indicated that he did not feel 100 percent fit after his crash in the opening stage in Brussels. “In such a final, and certainly in the Tour, you have to be one hundred percent sharp to be able to participate in the victory. I should have managed my teammates better in the final. Hopefully I can recover in the upcoming days, so that I can become my old self again.”

“It was difficult to find each other in the hectic final”, Van Aert said. “It was my job to keep the lead-out train in front on the narrow section in the last kilometres. Amund and Dylan lost us along the way. That’s a shame, because we have a strong lead-out. We have complete confidence in Dylan. He has proven several times that when he has the space in the peloton, he can finish it off. We’ll keep trying.”