A nine-rider group broke away and gradually gathered enough of a lead to fight for the stage win. "That was not a problem for us", stated sports director Grischa Niermann. "We had decided to ride defensively today. I think we did that very well. Once again, I saw a solid team. Today's plan succeeded."

Towards the top of Alpe d'Huez, his competitors tried to attack yellow jersey wearer Vingegaard several times, but the Danish classification leader countered the pinpricks without mercy. "A super tough day that I got through well partly due to my teammates' outstanding work", Vingegaard said. "The heat didn't make it easy. I did not feel bad today, but my legs were not as good as yesterday. In the final kilometres I could answer some attacks of the other GC riders well. It was a cool climb. I've rarely seen so many spectators. The fans behaved well and, in most cases, gave us enough space to pass through. Riding in the wheel of my teammates even allowed me to enjoy this tough stage. The team's efforts were phenomenal."

Vingegaard was partly referring to Sepp Kuss' excellent work. The American took on much of the lead on the final climb. "I felt strong enough to assist Jonas for a long time today. It may sound strange, but in the past few days, I tried to save energy where possible to be able to assist Jonas here. It's good to see that he easily countered the competitor's attacks. We have a strong team. Everyone has been able to see that. We know each other's strengths. We head towards this Tour's second half in good spirits. There is still a lot to come."

At an intermediate sprint at the beginning of the stage, Wout van Aert added another couple of points to his total. The green jersey wearer led the entire peloton on several climbs. "It was a super tough day. As a team, we showed that we have recovered well from a tough day like yesterday. It was a battle of which there will be some more. We showed that we are also able to consolidate. I felt good, but I did suffer. I think Jonas suffered the least of all of us. He has gone through a great evolution in recent years. It's really nice to be able to work for him", Van Aert concluded.