Tolhoek attacked early in the stage through the Jura with seven climbs along the way and was joined by five others riders. The six were given little space and were caught well before the final climb. Team Jumbo-Visma brought both Kruijswijk and Kuss in an ideal position to the final climb. Kuss accelerated twice, but did not get away.

“We had come up with a plan in which I was the rider to be in the breakaway”, Tolhoek said. “It wasn’t easy to get in the breakaway, but I succeeded. I really wanted to show something on my birthday today. That was the goal. It was a strong leading group. Like in Catalunya, you know that there is a small chance that Ineos lets a breakaway ride. So you never know. Unfortunately, today they did not give us that space. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this stage.”

Sports director Jan Boven concurred with Tolhoek. “Ineos rode a fast pace from the start. That, in combination with the many alltitude metres, made it a tough stage. At the end of the stage it was more of an elimination race. The team executed the plan well. Antwan was in the breakaway and Sepp and Steven didn’t lose any time at the end and are still in a good position GC-wise.”