Shortly after the start in Bad Ragaz, eight riders managed to break away from the peloton. Katharina Sadnik was alertly and represented Team Visma | Lease a Bike in the leading group. The eight riders built up a maximum lead of two minutes, but were reeled in with seventeen kilometers to go.

In the finale, several riders tried to prevent a bunch sprint, but the peloton was not caught off guard. Zoë Backstedt sprinted convincingly to the stage victory, whilst Van Dam crossed the line in eleventh place. In the general classification, Van Dam sits in third place. Femke de Vries currently occupies ninth place.

"In my view, it was a good day", sports director Jan Boven said afterwards. "Katharina hadn’t been feeling quite her best over the past few days, so initially we were just hoping she’d survive the climb (immediately after the start). She managed that, after which she got back into position and joined a group chasing the race leader. She did that very well."

According to the Dutchman, Kim Le Court-Pienaar’s presence meant the breakaway had little chance of success. "Kim was 1 minute 12 seconds behind in the general classification, so that wasn’t ideal for the breakaway group. On the other hand, it wasn’t a bad situation, because the other GC teams had to work quite hard to close the gap. Our ladies didn’t have to do much."

Tomorrow, an individual time trial of just under 24 kilometres awaits for the riders. For Van Dam and De Vries, this will be a crucial day for the general classification. "I think Sarah and Femke can certainly compete and ride a good time trial. I’m also curious to see what Viktória can do. She didn’t come out of the Giro in peak condition, but she’s getting better by the day."