Gautier, Ilnur Zakarin, and stage 6 winner Alexey Lutsenko, crashed on a roundabout, though all riders involved were able to continue onwards. Once the race did start, a sole rider, Mathieu Ladagnous (), attacked to form the day's breakaway. Around 20 kilometers into the stage, another breakaway attempt was made, as Oliver Naesen (), Lukas Pöstlberger (), Stefan Küng (), Tom Van Asbroeck (), Michael Gogl (), and Jasper Stuyven () tried to make it up the road. However, with an intermediate sprint along the stage, , the team of the points classification leader Sam Bennett, quickly reeled back in the six riders. Out in front, Ladagnous won the mountain point for the only categorized climb, the Côte de Cherveux, and the maximum points at the intermediate sprint before he was eventually caught, winning the stage's combativity award for his efforts. Back in the peloton, many of the sprinters lined it out for the remaining points. Bennett won the sprint for second, with his lead-out man Michael Mørkøv holding on for third ahead of Peter Sagan, Matteo Trentin, and Bryan Coquard. A crash with 30 kilometers left involving several riders forced Ion Izagirre to abandon the race with heavy injuries; he was the second abandonment of the day following Gregor Mühlberger, who had abandoned earlier due to illness. With just over six kilometers left, Pöstlberger was once again on the attack, putting in a late bid for the win. Like before, were forced to close him down, with Kasper Asgreen and Bob Jungels giving chase. Eventually, they were caught with two kilometers left, with the sprint trains leading the peloton. The hectic sprint culminated in a bike throw at the line from four riders. Caleb Ewan accelerated out of Bennett's slipstream and won the bike throw for the stage win. Sagan pipped Bennett for second, with Wout van Aert squeezed off the podium. However, shortly after the stage, race officials relegated Sagan to 85th place, last in the lead group, for dangerous behavior during the sprint. van Aert had been leading the sprint on the right side of the road, with Clément Venturini on his wheel. Both Bennett and Sagan were on Venturini's wheel, and when they accelerated, Bennett went left and Sagan went right. With little space between van Aert and the barriers, Sagan used his shoulder to nudge the Belgian, who nearly deviating left into Bennett's path, before