The day after the opening prologue, the riders were presented with a tricky stage. On the second and final climb of the day, Team Visma | Lease a Bike showed its attacking intentions. Gloag was launched by Milan Vader and made the bunch break into pieces. Moments later, Nordhagen saw his chance to attack.

The 19-year-old Norwegian, riding his first race at World Tour level, rode away with two other riders and showed his good legs. However, everything came back together and a sprint was set up for the day's victory. In the bunch sprint, Jonathan Milan proved to be the fastest.

"I am very satisfied with the effort the guys showed", sports director Robert Wagner said. "We had planned to go for the mountain jersey with Milan and Thomas, but that didn't work out. What Jørgen showed afterwards was super strong. To be in the final with the big boys right from your first World Tour race is really impressive. We all showed commitment today and are looking forward to tomorrow. Another hilly stage awaits then."