With the side winds picking up, the danger of echelons was there more than once halfway through the stage. With eighty kilometers to go, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike team took control of the race. The peloton broke into two pieces, but after about twenty kilometers everything melted together again and relative calm returned.

Everything pointed to a third bunch sprint in this Tour. And so it came. In the final kilometer, Van Aert cleverly made his way to the front row. The Belgian was in a good position in the last corner and then set up a powerful sprint. A hundred meters from the finish, Van Aert was forced to abandon his sprint because he was boxed in by Jasper Philipsen, who was disqualified moments later. As a result, sixth place proved to be the maximum possible, one day before the first time trial of the Tour de France.

"I'm glad the good feeling returned to my legs today," Van Aert stated after the ride. "The last two days the feeling was a little less. It was a hectic day, mainly due to the interference of the crosswind. As a team we were always in the positions where we wanted to be. I can also be satisfied with the level of my sprint. In the first stage I already showed that I have a good final shot. It's something I can move forward with."

Jonas Vingegaard tells his findings about the sixth stage after coming in. "It was a stressful day because of the wind. We saw our chance as a team along the way to give it a try. Very briefly there actually were echelons. As a team we rode a strong stage today."

The duo from Team Visma | Lease a Bike are already looking ahead to tomorrow, when a race against the clock of over 25 kilometers is scheduled.

"I did not do a recon of the course yet," Vingegaard says. "That was on the planning, but because of the crash in the spring it didn't come up. By my estimation, it's not super technical. It's a bit of a hilly course, but nevertheless I expect it to be a fast time trial. I definitely put Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogacar among the favorites for tomorrow. I'm going to do my very best to get the best possible result."

"Tomorrow's time trial is going to be a very important day in this Tour," Van Aert spoke in turn. "It's a course for the typical time trial riders with long straights and beautiful and hilly roads. The climb in the middle is going to provide the most differences. I want to go full gas and see how far I can get."