Everything seemed to indicate that the stage would end in a bunch sprint, just like the opening stage. Six riders were in the lead all day and got a maximum lead of six minutes. With twenty kilometres to go, the remaining lead was still three minutes, so the peloton decided to give up. As a result, the front group was rewarded for its effort. Dane Mads Würtz Schmidt took the win.

Van Aert was not very disappointed with the way the stage went. "As a team we chose not to go full speed behind the leaders. After the tough stages in recent days an easy day was welcome. The speed was still there for the whole peloton, but we were able to save as much energy as possible for tomorrow's time trial. The breakaway consisted of strong guys. We never got really close to them. It doesn't happen often that the front group makes it to the finish in a relatively flat stage. It's nice to see that sometimes."

The Belgian time trial champion talked in a realistic way about tomorrow's final race against the clock. "I will have to go full speed in the last stage. I think I also have a chance for a good classification in that stage. Fillipo Ganna is a very strong rider in the peloton, who in recent months has won just about every time trial he has started. The stage victory will be difficult, but I will not settle in advance with not being able to win. I'm going to give it my all in any case.