Paul Martens opted for the early breakaway in the streets of the Italian seaside resort town Lido di Camaiore. Together with fellow escapee Simon Pellaud, the German road captain of the Dutch WorldTour team kept it up until the start of the last local lap. The five other fellow escapees had already been caught by the approaching peloton.

Sports director Addy Engels talked about a good day for his team afterwards. “Luckily everyone crossed the line safely. It was a good day for us with Paul in the breakaway. It is too bad that there was no good cooperation in the breakaway. There were two of them left, but against this peloton it was almost impossible to keep it up until the finish. We have a team without a great leader, so we can race attractively. We did that too.”

Teunissen is happy that he was finally able to pin on a number again. “The goal was to get Timo and Pascal ready for the sprint. Because I was behind the big crash, my role was quite limited. Paul showed himself well at the front and did a great job. It is a nice feeling to be able to race again.”