The Dutchman was part of a leading group of five. At fifteen kilometres from the finish he decided to leave his fellow escapees behind and went on a solo hunt for the win. Hofstede, however, could not prevent the stage from ending in a bunch sprint.

“It was not my plan at all to join the breakaway today”, Hofstede said. “Bert-Jan and Koen were active and often tried to force a breakaway, but without result. In the end I jumped once and I immediately got a gap. Four riders went along with me. In the beginning the cooperation was very good, but after a while those guys started to get tired. In spite of that we were still riding reasonably well. But in the closing stages I dropped them. The course was not in my advantage with the wide roads and headwind. That was a shame, but nevertheless it was a nice day in the break.”