Daniel McClay took the stage win. The German Pascal Ackermann finished second for the second day in a row. The battle for the most victorious rider of 2019 seems to be decided in Dylan Groenewegen’s favour. Groenewegen is four wins ahead of the German, who has four stages to go in China.

“The stage was essentially the same as yesterday’s”, sports director Addy Engels said. “A group of three got an advantage and was caught in the last ten kilometres. After that, the peloton was allowed to sprint for the stage victory. Unfortunately, we did not manage to get a good result, but as I said before, we don’t have a pure sprinter with us in this stage race.”

Roosen was supported by his teammates, but he did not manage to get in front at the right moment. “I was with Taco van der Hoorn and Bert-Jan Lindeman on the right side of the bunch. The idea was to move up this way. There was not enough space, so we had to steer to the left to get to the front. Meanwhile, the pace has already become very high and it was very difficult to move up. In the last few hundred metres, I ultimately came through the middle, but I did not have enough space for a proper sprint. That is a pity, but tomorrow there is another chance. That stage should suit us better.”