A leading group of four riders was given little room due to echelons early in the stage. After an unsuccessful attempt, the situation seemed to calm down a bit. But at more than sixty kilometres from the finish another attempt was made to tear the peloton apart, once again to no avail. The sprinters' teams ultimately made things exciting by giving fugitive Michael Kurkle a big lead in the race's final stages. He was caught just before the finish line. Kooij came out of Sam Bennett's wheel at high speed, had to hold back for a moment and eventually lost the sprint by one bike length.

Kooij spoke of good team play. "It's nice to see that we went for the stage one hundred percent again today. Tom Dumoulin and Timo Roosen positioned me well. In the end, I came a little short, but we are getting closer to victory every stage. We'll go for it again tomorrow."

"The nervousness wasn't too bad", said sports director Frans Maassen. "There was too little wind. It was the first time Olav really competed for the win. He was close. It's nice to see that the team and he are making such strides."