The peloton set off on a 169-kilometre stage from Carballo to Padrón, with one serious obstacle along the way. On this Alto Pico Muralla, a second-category climb, Nordhagen showed his best form. The young Norwegian climbed alongside the best riders and reached the summit with five companions. Along the way, Nordhagen picked up a number of bonus seconds, which put him in a strong position for the general classification. 

In the final kilometers, Ivan Romeo launched an attack and immediately opened up a significant gap. The chasers failed to reel in the Spaniard, allowing Romeo to take the victory. Nordhagen crossed the line in sixth place, 25 seconds behind the winner. Afterwards, Nordhagen was honoured as the new leader of the general classification, but following a recalculation, it turned out that Pinarello is the new leader. 

"That works in our favour, because now the ball is in NSN's court", sports director Robert Wagner says. "Tomorrow’s stage is so gruelling that there will undoubtedly be a gap of several seconds. Jørgen is in a strong position and showed today that he can keep up with the best on the climb. That’s a good sign."

Wagner continues: "In the final, it turned into a tactical battle between the leaders. At one point, three riders broke away, after which Yates and Jørgen exchanged glances for a fraction of a second. After that, it was man against man, and although Jørgen lost a few seconds to Pinarello, he gained a few on Yates. All in all, I don’t think it was such a bad day after all."