The first rider to get anywhere near Plapp was then Lenny Martinez. Despite a solid effort however, the Frenchman wearing the polka-dot jersey had to settle for a provisional 2nd placed finish, 23 seconds down on the Australian leader. Julian Alaphilippe and Santiago Buitrago both put in solid efforts but crossed the line just over a minute down on Plapp, as his time looked more and more realistic of challenging for the stage win.
The next man to challenge Plapp was
Tadej Pogacar's super-domestique Adam Yates. The Brit just fell short of the best time though, losing out by 17 seconds at the line.
As the big names then started to come through the time checks, the likes of
Primoz Roglic, Matteo Jorgenson and Remco Evenepoel set rapid times at the first intermediate check. By the second check, Roglic was even 30 seconds up on Plapp.
Tadej Pogacar meanwhile, set the fastest time at the first check in an early warning sign to the rest of the race.
At the line, Jorgenson crossed the line 4 seconds down on Plapp. Roglic though, was a man on a mission and by the time the Slovenian reached the finish line, he'd set a new fastest time by 37 seconds with his effort of 24:20.
Evenepoel meanwhile was starting to have issues with his bike on the climb, the last thing the TT specialist needed. Florian Lipowitz crossed the line 35 seconds down on his teammate Roglic. Showing just how bad Evenepoel had been,
Jonas Vingegaard actually caught and passed the Belgian at the line, with the Dane going 44 seconds quicker than Roglic in the process.
There was no matching Pogacar though, as the Maillot Jaune thundered to another dominant stage win at the finish line.