Six riders formed the day’s early breakaway. On the hilly course, the leading group built up an advantage of over four minutes, but with four kilometers to go they were reeled in by the peloton.

In the finale, Kooij was kept well to the front by his teammates, after which Edoardo Affini and Christophe Laporte delivered him with an excellent lead-out. In the sprint, however, Kooij had to concede to Merlier, who proved to be the strongest.

“It was a good day today,” Kooij reflected. “As a team we helped bring back the breakaway. In the final kilometers, Edoardo and Christophe put me in a perfect position to sprint. In the sprint I may have gone a bit too early, but we can be satisfied with the race we rode today.”