On paper the hilly stage was interesting for a breakaway. Team Jumbo-Visma tried with Steven Kruijswijk and Wout van Aert to be in the break of the day, but did not manage to get in the decisive leading group. Bauke Mollema won the stage.

Vingegaard was pleased with his teammates who guided him safely to the finish in Quillan. “It took a long time for the break to go away. That helped to make it a tough day. We made it to the finish safely and I’m happy about that. Tomorrow will be one of the toughest stages of this Tour. I hope I feel good and I will do my very best.”

Sportive director Merijn Zeeman regarded today’s stage as a transition stage. “It was a really big fight for the right break. That lasted almost a hundred kilometers and because of that the stage became a lottery more and more. Finally, a strong group got away. We then kept the focus on Jonas, because there were still some tricky parts and technical descents. We tried to help him with that. That worked and we got through the day well. There is still a lot on the menu in the coming stages. A lot can still happen.”