The 37-year-old Dutchman said it was a quiet stage. "It was even a bit boring," Gesink said with a wink. "Not much happened, but I'm glad we just made it to the line in one piece. I'm happy that I can be of value to the team again after my injury and I hope to continue to do that in the coming days."

Team Visma | Lease a Bike did not participate in the stage to Lleida in the breakaway of the day and saw how three riders were caught early before the finish. Marijn van den Berg won the sprint. Team leader Kuss was attentive and took two bonus seconds for the general classification in an intermediate sprint along the way.

Sports director Marc Reef: "At the final intermediate sprint we wanted to be sharp, because there were still seconds to be gained for the general classification," he explained. "The team got Sepp into position which allowed him to compete. Unfortunately, he lost the sprint to Wout Poels, which now drops him to eighth place. But I think it can still go either way in the coming days, so this sprint is definitely not going to be the deciding factor."

"Tomorrow's stage is normally going to be a stage for the attackers," Reef continued. "We didn't have to waste much energy today. For us, the most important thing on Friday is to get Sepp and Cian back across the finish line well and in one piece."