Mick van Dijke, Tosh Van der Sande and Christophe Laporte guided Kooij to the front. Kooij was in danger of losing his teammates for a moment, but Laporte ensured that Kooij was brought to Philipsen's wheel. The Belgian gained a few meters quickly, but Kooij won the race with a powerful jump.

It was Kooij's tenth win of the year. This gave his team a total of 36 victories this season. "The goal was to win a stage and it's great if you manage to do that at the first opportunity", Kooij said. "It was a hectic sprint and the headwind made it extra difficult. Ultimately, I ended up in Philipsen's wheel and saw the finish line quickly coming closer. Luckily I had the legs to pass him."

Kooij acknowledged that the sprint train got to the front too early. "On the last straight to the finish, we knew we needed enough manpower. We had to shift gears a little and luckily that worked out well. Christophe has already proven how good he is at this in the Tour. Having a lead-out like him is great."

Kooij, who suffered some abrasions during a crash halfway through the race, has no ambitions for the general classification. "It would be nice if the jersey stays in the team. Tomorrow there will be a time trial and after that, it's up to the other guys to do a good job."