The 250 km long race from Plouay to Plouay had a fast start with a high average speed. After a few small attacks, four riders managed to escape after fifty kilometres. The peloton gave them enough space to increase their lead to about six minutes.

A little later fate struck for the first time for Team Jumbo-Visma. Christoph Pfingsten and Chris Harper crashed on a narrow stretch of road. Both riders initially got back on their feet, but Harper had to step off his bike a bit later. After that Tobias Foss crashed in a sandy corner. The Norwegian had to have a wound on his chin stitched up in hospital.

Still Team Jumbo-Visma continued to have bad luck. Jonas Vingegaard had a puncture on the gravel in the final phase. David Dekker and Pascal Eenkhoorn were unable to sprint due to yet another crash. Eenkhoorn emerged unharmed, but Dekker injured his hand.

Sport director Frans Maassen: “It was not about the effort today. We had a lot of bad luck with all the crashes and Jonas having a flat tyre. He almost managed to come back, but eventually he had to squeeze the brakes due to cows. It’s a shame, because we really deserved more today.”