Chris Froome stayed safe in the bunch throughout the stage, Team Sky having led the peloton on their earlier pursuit of the break before easing off to allow Tinkoff-Saxo and Katusha to take control. The Kenyan-born Brit was nicely placed when Dani Moreno (Katusha) led the way under the flamme rouge and took full advantage, bursting from behind him to lead an elite quartet away from the bunch. But where Froome would normally burst into life and press on to the finish, he had no response when Joaquim Rodriguez counter-attacked.

In his first race back after injury ruled him out of Tirreno-Adriatico, Froome had not raced competitively since his victory at the Tour of Oman. There, he looked in perfect form as he stormed up Green Mountain to secure his second overall victory in Oman. A month down the line however, and he appears race rusty. There is plenty of time to go before the Tour de France Grand Depart – 100 days in fact – but it just goes to show the importance of getting racing miles in your legs.