Under a bright sun, the riders set off for a 200-kilometre stage from L'Escala towards the French town of Perpignan. Immediately after the start, a three-rider group formed the day's breakaway and created a maximum lead of five minutes. At 30 kilometres from the finish the trio was caught, after which the peloton seemed to prepare for a bunch sprint.

This turned out to be a long way off, however, as the wind became very strong in the final part of the race. Led by Rohan Dennis and Robert Gesink, the peloton split into two groups and some riders lost contact with the front group. Kruijswijk eventually crossed the line in eighth place, while Sam Oomen finished 18th.

"This was a good day for us", sports director Merijn Zeeman said. "We knew very well when to be in position and take the initiative to form echelons. Rohan and Robert did a great job, while Steven and Sam were attentive and sharp. In the end, several classification riders lost some time."

Zeeman is looking forward to the rest of the week with confidence. Tomorrow the first uphill finish awaits. "The first two days went well, but you never really know how strong we are compared to the others. We have several strong helpers and I think the leaders are very motivated to get a good result in the coming days."