The five-day stage race kicked off with a hilly stage in north-eastern Slovakia. Four riders formed the breakaway and gained a maximum lead of three and a half minutes. When the breakaway riders were caught, Thomas Gloag and Bart Lemmen tried to force a split.

Although both riders opened up a small gap, it was not enough to stay ahead of the peloton. Attempts by Cian Uijtdebroeks, Tijmen Graat, Menno Huising, Matisse Van Kerckhove and Behrens also failed, resulting in a sprint for the stage victory. Magnier proved to be the fastest. Behrens finished sixth. 

"I saw a strong, attacking team. We can definitely build on that", sports director Sierk Jan de Haan said. "We knew that Magnier was the favourite for the stage win and that Soudal Quick-Step would control the race. During the recon, we saw that there were opportunities in the last 25 kilometres. From that moment on, we tried to make the race hard by taking turns to attack. Soudal Quick-Step handled it well and even got help from a number of other riders. It was impressive that Niklas was still there and sprinted to sixth place."

According to De Haan, tomorrow's mission remains the same. "We want to try again tomorrow to leave our mark by racing aggressively. The stage is slightly tougher on paper, so we'll see how far we can get. It's important to be sharp when attacks are coming. We're aiming for a stage win, but we're also hoping for a good GC. With Bart, Thomas and Cian, we have several riders who can finish high up."