The peloton set off in Cascais for 194 kilometres towards the finish in Ourém. Two early breakaway riders were given space by the peloton, but the duo were caught well short of the finish line. In the peloton, Van Baarle was involved in a crash. The 32-year-old Dutchman tried to continue his way, but he was forced to abandon the race moments later. A big disappointment for Van Baarle, who returned to action after a long rehabilitation period following his crash in Critérium du Dauphiné at the beginning of June. The Dutchman was later found to have suffered a fracture in his hip.  

Meanwhile, Team Visma | Lease a Bike controlled the situation in the peloton. Van Aert - who was only three seconds behind in the general classification after the opening time trial - had a great opportunity to take the leader's jersey. The sprint was initiated by a strong lead-out by Edoardo Affini. In the end, Van Aert was narrowly beaten by Kaden Groves. His second place did allow the Belgian to take the red leader's jersey afterwards.  

“Of course I really wanted to win the stage, but the red jersey also makes up for something”, Van Aert said. “I knew Groves would be a great competitor for this sprint. Edoardo prepared the sprint well, but it was difficult to time my launch perfectly. In hindsight, Groves turned out to be faster than me. It was a deserved win for him. Other than that, it's a shame to lose Dylan. It's never nice to hear such news during the race. Hopefully he can heal quickly.”