"It was the last time my family could see me ride. That's a special feeling. Wearing the red, white and blue in the time trial was the highlight of the race for me. In terms of sport, things went a little less smoothly last week. With Olav, we fought for the win several times, but in the end, we went home without a win”, the Dutchman said.

"I'm starting to realise that the end of a long career is approaching”, the 38-year-old veteran said. "Since I announced that I would be retiring at the end of this season, I have been thinking about everything in the peloton. Not always in a positive way. The Renewi Tour used to be a very nice race, but how this year's edition was run must have given a lot of people pause for thought. Once again, the safety of the riders came into play, and that should not be the case. I hope to end my career on a positive note in the remaining races over the next few weeks.”

Halfway through the stage, the peloton took a break for a while. According to the riders, the course at the end of the local loop was too dangerous because of the narrow roads. After consultation with the race jury, the race was resumed. The times for the general classification would eventually be recorded at five kilometres from the finish. Belgian Tim Wellens won the overall classification.