Three riders broke away from the peloton. They got a four-minute lead from the peloton, led by the Team Jumbo-Visma riders. The last fugitive was caught with 20 kilometres to go and in the stage’s final phase the peloton had some nasty climbs to overcome.

On these climbs, Steven Kruijswijk kept Dennis well in front. Dennis seemed to get away with a small group, but inadequate cooperation resulted in a quick regrouping. Dennis subsequently positioned himself well and sprinted to third place in a reduced peloton. The Australian time trial champion did well in the general classification.

“The team has done a phenomenal job”, sports director Merijn Zeeman said. “Michel Hessmann was again responsible for a large part of the pursuit. He also ensured that the breakaway group with some strong riders was caught again. Robert Gesink, Sepp Kuss and Steven kept Dennis well in front in the final stage. The fact that Rohan then rode a good sprint and took some bonification seconds is particularly clever. In my opinion, Rohan is still an underdog in the general classification because of what is to come. We are definitely in good shape.”