With 190.5 km the longest section of this year's edition of the Ster ZLM Toer was held today. Starting and finishing in Buchten, the riders had to complete a very undulating profile in which climbs of Amstel Gold Race were even on the program.

The first hour of the race was very hectic and it was dominated by many attacks. It took two climbs to be completed, until the decisive group of the day was able to go clear. Bora-Argon 18 was represented by Patrick Konrad in the high-profile lead group and he was able to stay in the group until the finale.

Only on the last three kilometers all attacks were neutralized, so that the stage was decided in a bunch sprint. Yesterday's winner Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) won again. Scott Thwaites took care of the second Top 10 result of the team and sprinted to 10th place, followed by Zak Dempster in 12th place. Dempster is now 9th overall.

“We wanted to be part of today’s group, which seem to have big chances to reach the finish. After a hectic start, a group of ten riders broke away, including Patrick Konrad. With the selective course and the many attacks also in the leading group, Patrick did a good job ahead of the field. The team altogether did a good job today. Scott’s tenth place in the sprint is currently fine for us as well, since he just returned from a longer training phase. Without our top sprinter [Sam Bennett], a mass sprint like to today is of course not easy for us,” Sport Director Andre Schulze said.