Unlike most individual time trials, race organisers created a hilly and technical parcours with several climbs located within its scheduled distance. Most prominent was the climb of the Pfannenstiel around a third of the way through the course - the summit marked the first intermediate time point of the course - up to a height of , before descending back down, via an undulating section, to the starting town of Gossau; the estimated time to complete the course was just over 45 minutes. As was customary of time trial stages, the riders set off in reverse order from where they were ranked in the general classification at the end of the previous stage. Thus, Fréderique Robert of Lotto-Belisol, who, in 148th place, trailed overall leader Rui Costa (Movistar Team) by fifty-two minutes and forty-five seconds, was the first rider to set off on the stage.