Van Garderen put in several attacks after Julien Simon (Sojasun) escaped the group with 25 kilometres to go in the 191-km race. Burghardt then bridged a 20-second gap to Simon in the final two kilometres before Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) took the win. Burghardt finished 14th and van Garderen was 16th as the peloton rolled in 7’17” later.

"We knew we weren't the fastest guys in the sprint, so we had to ride aggressively to try to get away," van Garderen said. "It's hard when you're not a sprinter to win out of a group like that. Maybe if there was a harder climb or a climb closer to the finish we would have had a good chance. But we had to try."

Burghardt said simply making the break was an accomplishment. "It was fast in the beginning, but then we made a good move and we got into it with two guys and were working well together," he said. With Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) being part of the breakaway, BMC Racing Team's Cadel Evans slipped one spot to 13th overall, 6’54” behind race leader Chris Froome (Sky Procycling) heading into the final seven stages of the three-week race.