"It was an incredibly tough stage. Today we simply did not have enough manpower to control. I was soon alone in the race and had to react a lot to attacks," reflects the Dutchman in his post-stage interview, referring to the illness that has swept through the
Alpecin-Deceuninck team, taking out half of Van der Poel's teammates.
Eventually crossing the line 41 seconds behind Vansevenant in third, Van der Poel drops to third overall, 34 seconds down on the Belgian. "I am pleased with my legs, it was a difficult stage. I think I managed to keep control quite well," concludes the world champion optimistically. "As I said before the race, the goal was mainly to win a stage than to go for the general classification. We will see how the last two stages go."