Eight riders attacked in the flat opening phase and got a three-minute lead. At the top of the second climb, Ineos created echelons which meant the end of the leading group’s adventure. Michel Hessmann was alert in the front, but in the descent, the second group, including Mike Teunissen, Timo Roosen and Nathan Van Hooydonck, came back. Hessmann then rode away solo and quickly built up an advantage of one minute and a half. However, the peloton's pace went up at the start of the Gaustatoppen and Hessmann’s attempt stranded at eight kilometres from the finish.

“Things got hectic on the second climb because of the wind’s direction”, sports director Arthur van Dongen explained. “Hessmann was in an excellent position and the two groups came together. We had four men with us. Only Tosh Van der Sande and David Dekker were in a group behind us and they didn’t manage to come back. We knew we had no men for a top ten result today, but we made the best of it. It’s nice to see that a young rider can ride such a solo. That’s promising. Today’s stage went according to expectations and we will now focus on the next three days.”