For a long time, the stage seemed to finish in a bunch sprint. The breakaway was controlled by the sprinter teams and never got a lead of more than three minutes. Team Jumbo-Visma helped in the chase, but despite frantic efforts by the peloton, the breakaway stayed upfront.

“We have done everything we could to get a bunch sprint”, sports director Merijn Zeeman said. “But the breakaway was very strong and played it out well. The stage was controlled well for a long time. We knew we shouldn’t give them too much of a lead because they are all very strong riders. The peloton chased in full force, but couldn’t close the gap in the hectic final and on the narrow roads. We wanted to sprint here with Dylan. So this is a bit of a pity for us. But we’ll just try again tomorrow.”