The hilly stage had an early breakaway. Five riders, including the stage winner, were able to gain five minutes on the peloton. About twenty kilometres before the finish the peloton increased the pace. Tony Martin made his presence felt and led the large group closer to the leaders. In the end the depleted peloton fell just short of keeping Pöstlberger from winning.

Kruijswijk and Kuss held up well in the final kilometres of the stage. The American looked back with satisfaction. “It wasn’t easy terrain, but I felt good. In the last climbs the pace was easy to follow. It was important to ride at the front, to keep a close eye on everything. Especially in such a small group. In the end I was in the right group with Steven and we stayed together. The team brought us forward well and it’s nice to ride with the big engines.”

Jonas Vingegaard was missing from the final climb. Grischa Niemann on the young Dane: “We knew about Jonas that he still needed time to get up to speed. He has just come back from a minor injury and is riding this race to build up rhythm and to get to the top level. Today in the climb it became clear that he is not there yet. Everything else went according to plan. In the end Steven and Sepp were in the first group and that was fine. It was still a tough day, but we came through it well. Tomorrow is the only chance for a bunch sprint. For us it’s a day to get through safe. Then we’ll hopefully proceed to the time trial with good legs.”