With two categorized climbs in the first 30 kilometers, the peloton had an all but quiet opening stage. De Vries, who finished fifth in last week's Volta a Catalunya, gave it a shot early on the Jaunpass. However, the favorites did not let her go and quickly caught her up.

In the difficult final kilometers of the climb, Reusser and Demi Vollering broke away and De Vries and Bunel were unable to follow. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders ended up in a second consecutive group and eventually passed the finish line in twelfth and nineteenth place, more than two minutes behind the winner.

"This was a stage that fell into a fold very quickly", sports director Jan Boven said afterwards. "We were hoping to get over the second climb with a bigger group so we could race in the middle section. Unfortunately, we never got to that. On the climb Femke made a good attempt to get in front with a group, but the favorites were very alert and didn't let anyone go."

Despite the differences made today, Boven remains combative. "Our goal in the coming days is to fight for the stage win and win the white jersey with Marion. Whether the mountain jersey is still realistic, we will have to see. Depending on what the classification teams allow tomorrow, we hope to race something more attractive."