Frank thanked his teammates for helping him become the first rider in BMC Racing Team history to win back-to-back races. He freewheeled across the line five seconds ahead of Rafal Majka (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) and six seconds ahead of third-placed Nicolas Edet (Cofidis Solutions Crédits).

"It was pretty steep at the finish and we had just caught the breakaway," Frank said. 'The guys did a perfect job of putting me in the front. I took the last couple of corners into the climb in third wheel and had a perfect lead-out. I went with about 700 metres to go because I knew this was a distance I could go full gas and do my sprint. But when I attacked, I was surprised nobody else was in my wheel."

BMC Racing Team Assistant Director Jackson Stewart said the fast pace of the race's longest stage – 103 kilometres of the 228.3km race was covered in the first two hours – and a lack of a breakaway (until km 90) did not change the team's strategy. "We knew it was a really good finish for Mathias, but we actually expected a break to go earlier," Stewart said. "All of the guys were really good, but Daniel Oss and Dominik Nerz were notably good at the end in setting up Mathias for the climb." Kevin Seeldraeyers (Astana Pro Team) kept the overall lead while Frank (18th, at 5:27) is the BMC Racing Team's best-placed rider in the general classification.