It was a strong day by the
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team who used numbers and power to capture a strong win as
Fausto Masnada dealt a big blow in the overall fight.
It wasn't a day for the breakaway, with the short stage not fitting for the escapees Julen Irizar (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Samuele Zoccaratto (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) and Czech national champion Michael Kukrle (Gazprom-Rusvelo). Well before the final sequence of the climbs they were caught as the peloton saw a move by DSM and some splits, followed by an attack by Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl's
Mauro Schmid. The Swiss took Søren Kragh Andersen, Marco Canola, Antoine Duchesne and Jonas Iversby Hvideberg with him and built a small gap, later going solo on his own in the final ascent, with Arkéa - Samsic's Kevin Vauquelin then taking control of the race.