The next big name to cross the line was British time trial champion Joshua Tarling. The Welshman narrowly went quicker than Vine and into the hotseat as well, although only by 3 seconds.
Juan Ayuso put in a solid time, clocking 16:24 for his efforts, 17 seconds slower than Tarling. Adam Yates meanwhile, was another 20 seconds further down. Simon Yates was at 34 seconds down as he crossed the line and Tudor Pro Cycling Team's GC hope Michael Storer at 28 seconds off Tarling. Egan Bernal would perhaps have been slightly disappointed, losing 49 seconds to his teammate, whereas Primoz Roglic finished slower than Tarling by just a single second.
Last year's White Jersey winner Antonio Tiberi looked strong compared to many of the other GC contenders, losing just 26 seconds to Tarling - 25 to Roglic. Richard Carapaz, searching for a second Maglia Rosa finished 38 seconds down on Tarling. Tom Pidcock meanwhile, lost 43 seconds.
What all this meant is that when
Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen began their efforts to close out the stage, Tarling was still the man to beat in the hotseat. With Van Aert surprisingly way off the pace at the 1st time check, Tarling only then had Pedersen to worry about. With Pedersen also down on Tarling at the check, the Dane was suddenly looking more towards Roglic's time, with the Lidl-Trek leader needing to stay within 10 seconds of Roglic to keep the Maglia Rosa. In the end, Pedersen fell just short of keeping the pink, with Roglic ending the day in the race lead.