The expected crosswinds never really split up the bunch as Team Giant-Alpecin delivered Zico Waeytens to another attempt in the sprint. Peter Sagan claimed the stage victory while Zico sprinted to a 11th.

A leading group of 5 riders escaped the bunch about 25km into the stage. The leading Hincape Racing team controlled the chase, as Etixx – QuickStep came to the front to close the gap.

With an attack in the final kilometer, Daniel Oss (BMC Racing Team) tried to surprise the sprinters but Peter Sagan (Tinkoff – Saxo) kept his nerves together to win the bunch sprint, after three runner-ups in a row on the previous days. Waeytens sprinted to an 11th place after missing the real punch. The leading position of youngster Toms Sujins (Hincapie Racing), as well as Lawson Craddock’s 9th weren’t endangered today.

“It was a nervous stage because of the chance of echelons. Our goal was to protect Lawson’s GC position and towards the finale we would do another sprint lead-out with Zico.

“Protecting Lawson went well and a split due to the crosswinds never really happened. The sprint preparation for Zico didn’t went perfect as Zico lost the wheel of Koen [de Kort]. He eventually came back but missed the punch in the sprint,” coach Aike Visbeek said.