📸 The British old-timers are not having an easy time: Cavendish has a flat at a bad moment, Froome (along with Gesink) crashes

Firstly, Cavendish, who had set his sights on this stage as a prime sprint opportunity. The Man from Man had a flat tire around twelve kilometers from the finish and seemed to immediately resign himself to his fate, as the peloton was just starting to gear up at that moment.

Lead-out Cees Bol dropped back to his team leader, but by that time, it seemed Cavendish had little hope of a favorable outcome. Eventually, they crossed the finish line 5.41 minutes behind stage winner Jasper Philipsen.

Robert Gesink and Chris Froome finished just before Cavendish and Bol. Froome who, along with Italian champion Simone Velasco (like Cavendish from Astana Qazaqstan Team), had crashed five kilometers from the end, sat on the asphalt with a pained expression and a hand on his wrist for a while but continued to the finish in the company of teammates Mads Würtz Schmidt and Simon Clarke. The damage seemed to be minimal for Gesink.