Because of a crash after almost four kilometres, Primoz Roglic could not compete for the win. Roglic finished in 65th place at 52 seconds adrift from Thomas. Dylan Groenewegen and George Bennett also crashed. 

“The last days, I noticed that my legs were good,” van Emden said. “Normally I can ride in a really high performance peak, get back a bit and continue riding at that level. Today, I was never able to get in that peak. That was the few percentage points I missed today. I hoped for more, but gave it my all and then you have to live with it.” 

“I took risks and that did not work out, it is as simple as that,” Roglic explained. “I did not mind that it rained today, normally it does not affect me. I did not suffer any injuries from my crash, just a few abrasions. It was the first chance, there are still 20 chances to come.” 

Dylan Groenewegen, the team’s sprinter, suffered a few scratches on his backside. 

“I will get over that,” Groenewegen said. “It was very slippery. I took the bend gingerly, but my front wheel just slipped away.” 

He had suffered from a slight cold in the days leading up to the Tour, but is not bothered anymore. 

“I feel fresh again. It was good the time trial was today, so I could blow the slime from my lungs. I feel well, and that’s a good thing for tomorrow.” 

“If it is really wet and you have two favourites in your team, you can ride very safely, but you will never win the time trial doing that,” Sports Director Nico Verhoeven said. “If you want to win, you have to take risks. With Primoz it was all or nothing, and it went wrong at the beginning." 

“Jos was very good today, but did not take any risks. Because of that, you miss a good result, but we were not far from it. It was on the limit for everyone, even if you did not take any risks you could crash.”