The stage had a flat start. Six riders led for a long time until the riders were confronted with some altitude metres. At about thirty kilometres from the finish a strong quartet got away during the climb of the Poggio alla Croce. Joao Almeida was the last one to be caught at about 300 metres from the finish. World champion Alaphilippe proved to have the best punch uphill.

Van Aert was satisfied with his third place. “As expected, it was a very hard day today. When Thomas started the battle for victory in the last kilometre, I was already pretty much at my limit. Alaphilippe attacked and immediately put me at a few lengths. I squeezed out the best possible sprint. Third place was the maximum I could achieve in this sprint. I was able to pick up some bonus seconds. That’s a good thing in defending my leader’s jersey."

Much respect once again went to the work of his teammates. “We were put under pressure by some guys who are dangerous for the general classification. The team was set up not to react to every attack. We stayed calm and didn’t let ourselves get caught out. The team controlled the race all day long. Fortunately, in the final I had two strong teammates near me who could speed up towards the end. Hats off to the team. I have confidence in this strong formation for the coming days.”