In the third stage of the five-day stage race, the sting was in the tail. With the finish atop of Eastern Mountain, a five-kilometre climb with an average gradient of 7.6 per cent, the classification riders could test themselves seriously for the first time. Uijtdebroeks was accompanied on the climb for a long time by Steven Kruijswijk and youngster Pietro Mattio, who again proved his worth.

After his good performance in the second stage, Uijtdebroeks showed he had good legs today as well. The Belgian was among the strongest climbers and battled for victory for a long time. In the final kilometre, a new attack by David Gaudu proved too powerful for him. The Frenchman beat Adam Yates in a sprint-a-deux and Uijtdebroeks crossed the line 16 seconds later.

"It's been a while since I had to reach the limit like that", Uijtdebroeks said. "The last few days were not so extreme, but today the finale was very punchy, too punchy for me. The guys did a fantastic job and dropped me off perfectly. Pietro went for a very long time on the climb. The legs were good. I tried to limit the damage as much as possible. All in all, I'm happy with this."

Uijtdebroeks is already looking forward to Wednesday's stage, in which Green Mountain will put the classification in a final fold. "That's a climb that normally suits me better. Other riders usually come out on top there and the differences will be bigger. Everything is still possible. I'm curious how the legs will be."