A major crash involving Jos van Emden, Christophe Laporte and Tosh Van der Sande cast a shadow over the race.

"We had the plan to make the race hard”, Van Aert said. "Because of the loss of Christophe, Tosh and Jos, we had to race differently. After Nathan van Hooydonck's hard work on the final hill, I attacked, which created a favourable situation. Christophe would have been there too, if he hadn't had bad luck. Nevertheless, the situation at the end wasn't bad at all."

In the sprint in Hamburg, Haller defeated Van Aert. He held himself accountable. "Marco attacked early, which surprised me. I looked the wrong way for a moment and couldn't correct the gap that Marco had created with his powerful jump. My top speed was good, but I was too late. That's a shame, but it can happen”, Van Aert said.

The Tour de France green jersey winner said it felt good to be back in the race. "I felt good today. Right after the Tour, I had a light flu. After a week or two, I could resume the training. Since then, everything has been going smoothly. I came close to winning today, so my second-place finish is frustrating. But it is also a sign that the form is good. That gives a lot of confidence for the upcoming races”, Van Aert said.

Van Emden suffered a concussion and a broken collarbone in the crash. Laporte and Van der Sande got away with abrasions.