Again, it was a stereotyped scenario with the standard 4-Conti/PT-men breakaway left 2-3 minutes ahead.

Small teams organised the chase and brought the time back, but then Décathlon and FDJ took the lead and the gap stabilised, despite the breakaway having one man (Bouquet🇫🇷 from St-Michel–Auber).

Décathlon tried to create an echelon, but only for half a mile or so. It was enough for a small split at the back, in which Groenewegen🇳🇱, who had been staying at the back since the beginning of the last small climb, was caught, which caused Unibet to stop taking part in the work at the front of the peloton. The split was resorbed, but still...

In the breakaway, about 4 or 5 km from the line, as the gap was stable around 20-25 seconds, Leroux (🇫🇷 Total) couldn't relay any more. As Guégan (🇫🇷 CIC, ex Nantes) didn't cover up for him, Arnaud Tendon (🇨🇭 Roubaix) accelerated to drop them.

Behind, one FDJ crashed into a sidewalk, bringing a Saint-Michel–Auber and another rider with him. I heard the FDJ rider was the one who was supposed to sprint today (Huens🇫🇷).

Finally, sprinter teams came again to chase.

Tendon was only caught 50 metres from the line! That's even closer than yesterday when Vercouillie was caught some 300-400 m from the line. Tendon ranked 13^th^, apparently; therefore only 12 sprinters from the peloton managed to pass him.

3 sprinters arrived together, and it took several minutes to decide which one came first.