It takes a certain type of rider to ride in a break, particularly on a stage such as this when you know full well the sprinting heavyweights will be baying for your blood at a ferocious pace behind you. But the five escapees gave the perfect example of how to ride in a break – even if ultimately they were caught in the final two kilometres. Backed by the experience of Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing) and regular escapee Lieuwe Westra (Astana), the fugitives gave the perfect example of how to share a workload and protect each other in the winds. Jesse Sergent (Trek Factory Racing), Rafaa Chtioui (Skydive Dubai) and Alessandro Bazzana (UnitedHealthCare) completed the five, with Chtioui’s efforts marking another good day in the saddle for the new UAE-based team.

And while the catch always looked likely, it is to the riders’ credit they stayed out until into the final two kilometres. Too many times a break has attacked and counter-attacked each other to little avail until they are swallowed up and spat out the back. They will argue their purpose – maximum exposure and sometimes intermediate sprints and time bonuses – has been fulfilled, but by working so efficiently together, this break nearly made it to the end – Bazzana’s well-timed acceleration on the final corner, just as the move was caught, certainly caused a nervy moment for the bunch and contributed to the hectic, widely-spread bunch sprint. In the long-run it will be an easily forgettable attempt at victory, but the five certainly emerged from the stage with plenty of credit.