On the flat course around Knokke-Heist, Fisher-Black covered the 11.2 km in twelve minutes and eighteen seconds. The New Zealander was allowed to sit in the hotseat for a while. Not much later, the youngster’s time was improved by the Belgians Yves Lampaert and stage winner Remco Evenepoel.

”I’m very pleased with my performance”, Fisher-Black said. “I didn’t know exactly what to expect from this time trial beforehand. I don’t have very many kilometers against the clock in my legs and certainly not in a strong field of competitors as today’s. I was able to deliver the power I had in mind. The course was flat, with few corners. That suits me. In the coming days we will see if I can stay short in the standings.”

Bouwman indicated he could move forward with his time trial. “Despite the fact that today’s stage was grueling, it went very well. This course is not ideal for a lightweight like me, but I am still in the shape of the Giro. From the team there is no pressure to ride a good classification here, but I do have that ambition.”