Three riders formed the escape of the day. The trio was kept within reach all day by a controlling peloton. At thirty kilometres from the finish, the escapees got reeled in and the sprinters prepared for a bunch sprint. In the final metres, Kooij rushed forward from the second row and secured a respectable fourth place.

He looked back on his performance with satisfaction. "My teammates surrounded me excellently all day. The stage was all about the last few kilometres and the final stages of the race were hectic again. In the end I was able to move up a long way with Timo Roosen. I developed a high speed, but unfortunately I had to start my sprint from too far away. I can definitely live with this result."