The day after the opening time trial, the riders were presented with a relatively easy stage. Two riders broke away and got a free pass from the peloton, which seemed to make no move to close the gap. With ten kilometers to go, the sprint teams increased the pace and the last remaining escapee got reeled in.

In the end, the stage ended in a bunch sprint, in which Consonni proved the fastest. De Vries, who suffered a flat tyre in the last ten kilometres, came in one minute and eight seconds behind the winner. "Very unfortunate, because I felt great all day. I was among the first twenty each time and was able to get along well every time."

"Fifteen kilometres from the finish, I suddenly felt my tyre going flat," De Vries continues. "At first I thought it wasn't too bad, but a little later I had to change my bike anyway. Mijntje and Lieke came to get me and gave it their all to minimise the time loss. I am very grateful that they sacrificed their own chances for me today."

A determined De Vries is looking forward to tomorrow with great interest. "It's the first uphill finish, so I'm hoping for a comeback. I hope that the bad luck will end then."