From Valkenburg, the peloton headed south towards arrival city Liège. The first hill stage in this Tour was described as a mix between the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The riders raced 122 kilometres on the roads and hills of the two spring classics.  

After crossing the Dutch-Belgian border, the peloton was immediately presented with the Mont-Theux and the Côte de la Redoute. On the Côte de la Redoute, the classification riders put pressure. There the balance of forces immediately became clear. On the final climb of the day - the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons - Vollering accelerated again. Only three riders - including stage winner Pieterse - could follow her. Markus and Vos eventually finished one and a half minutes behind the four.  

"This was the stage I was looking forward to”, Markus said afterwards. “It turned out to be a disappointment. Until halfway through the race, we were on track. We were well positioned as a team and we did what we had to do. The girls did a lot of work for me, but on the Redoute I had to let the others go. Unfortunately this was the highest possible today.”  

“I can't explain the cause of this bad day yet”, she added. “It's very unfortunate that it did not work out. Not for me, but not for my teammates either. Now it's a matter of getting some rest for tomorrow's stage. There are definitely some more stages coming up where we can show something.”