With eight categorized climbs and more than 2,800 meters of elevation gain, the riders faced a gruelling day in the saddle. The battle for the early breakaway started from the very beginning, but it took more than 50 kilometers before a breakaway managed to establish itself. De Vries and Van Dam did not miss the move and were part of the 19-rider group.

On the Col de Durbize, the penultimate climb of the day, the breakaway fell apart. De Vries stayed with the strongest climbers, while Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was forced to drop from the yellow jersey group. On the way to the Mont Brouilly, De Vries and her breakaway companions were caught by the GC contenders, after which Marlen Reusser, Demi Vollering and Kasia Niewiadoma attacked together on the climb.

De Vries was just unable to follow their pace and continued the climb at her own rhythm. She eventually crossed the finish line in eighth place. Vollering took the stage victory. "It was an extremely tough day. Our plan was to be part of the breakaway so we could put some pressure on the other GC contenders. I think Sarah and I executed that plan well", De Vries explained.

"I had good legs, but unfortunately they were just not good enough to follow on the final climb. Nevertheless, I am incredibly proud of this result." While De Vries took confidence from the stage, Ferrand-Prévot lost significant time to her rivals. "To be honest, I felt quite good today. On the penultimate climb, I simply couldn’t follow the pace. You have to be honest and accept that the others were stronger. I gave everything I had, so I can’t be disappointed."

Team manager Rutger Tijssen was realistic after Ferrand-Prévot’s time loss. "This is not why we came to the Tour. Of course, anything can still happen, but things have become more difficult. We have to be realistic about that", said Tijssen, who remains optimistic. "Looking at the team as a whole, we saw a very strong performance today. Femke and Sarah rode exceptionally well. Femke has moved into the top ten of the general classification and has a great opportunity to achieve a strong result. There are still four stages to go, and we will do everything we can to keep fighting for good results."