After six almost entirely flat stages, the penultimate stage of the British stage race was hilly. The highlight came 25 kilometres from the finish. On Crawley Hill, the Jumbo-Visma team caused quite a stir. Olav Kooij put Van Aert in a good position, and the Belgian set a blistering pace. Few riders were able to keep the wheel of the unleashed Van Aert.

Once the bunch was caught, the stage looked set to end in a bunch sprint, but nothing was further from the truth. With four kilometres to go, the 28-year-old rider attacked again. Unfortunately, he was caught again with the finish line in sight.

Van Aert eventually gave way to a well-cooperating group in his wake. "For a moment, I thought it was looking good. But the group was too strong, with several domestiques who could ride empty. I felt excellent today. Maybe I rode too enthusiastically, but at least I gave it my all. It would have been nice if I could have rewarded the team's good work with a win”, Van Aert said.

"I'm happy to still be in the leader's jersey. We're in a good position with one stage to go, but this is far from over. Maybe a better plan is to be a bit more careful tomorrow. I isolated myself today by starting a bit too early. I expect it to be a man-to-man battle tomorrow. The strongest will win on tomorrow's course. Hopefully, we can take the overall win.”