Just one day after Matthew Brennan’s historic stage win, the riders faced an individual time trial of more than 32 kilometers. Armirail had his sights set on a strong result and showed at the intermediate checkpoints that he was right up there with the best. The former French champion stopped the clock at 35 minutes and 48 seconds, good for seventh place.

Van Aert also put himself in contention for the stage win. The green jersey holder went all-in and rode a strong time trial. With a time of 35 minutes and 42 seconds, he finished fifth. "I really wanted to go for it today. I started fast, but after the final two climbs, my legs started to burn and I couldn’t maintain the pace anymore. It was fun to at least give it a shot", Van Aert said.

Van Aert knows there are still some tough stages ahead in the coming days. "We think Sepp has a chance to win a stage, so we’re going to do everything we can to support him as well as possible. That’s our goal for this weekend." Kuss hopes his legs will feel good over the next few days. "I’m going to give it everything I have to go for a strong result."