On a stage where crosswinds made severe damage in the peloton, INEOS Grenadiers did everything that was possible to control the remaining group to set Elia Viviani up for his first win of the season.
The early breakaway included Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels - KTM), Tom Mainguenaud (Go Sport - Roubaix Lille Métropole), Viktor Vershaeve (Lotto Soudal), Stéphane Rossetto (St Michel - Auber93), Tristan Delacroix and Jean Goubert (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur).
With 106 kilometers to go the crosswind action began in the peloton with splits appearing over TotalEnergies' initiative, however it was with 82 kilometers to go that a decisive split was made. The likes of Ivan Sosa and Michael Storer stood no chance and were quickly out of the GC fight, and sprinters like Arnaud Démare and Bryan Coquard also missed out on the group of around 25 riders.
Maciej Bodnar attacked with 8 kilometers to go and threatened the peloton as INEOS urged to chase with no outside help. Richard Carapaz and Filippo Ganna left it all out on the road to close his and Mads Wurtz's attack, and in the end they managed to take Elia Viviani in the perfect position for the sprint where the Italian capitalized on being the strongest sprinter in the group.
Sep Vanmarcke and Julian Alaphilippe took the remaining podium spots as the GC battle was broken wide open as expected, with several big contenders loosing meaningful time.
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