Although not as prominent as the previous day, windy conditions caused problems for the riders during the stage, with the field being split into several groups, behind a trio of breakaway riders. UnitedHealthcare's Boy Van Poppel, An Post-Sean Kelly's Andrew Fenn, and the mountains classification leader Russell Hampton of Sigma Sport-Specialized formed the day's breakaway, and they accelerated away from the field to a maximum advantage of over three minutes. The lead trio also took the maximum points from the first two intermediate sprints and the second category climb at Ramshorn. They stayed ahead of the field - and were later joined by Rapha Condor-Sharp rider Jonathan Tiernan-Locke - until just after Gun Hill, where Team Sky, HTC-Highroad and Rabobank advanced some of their riders into an echelon of 27 riders. After advancing all six of their riders into the echelon, Team Sky sent one of their riders on the attack with around remaining on the stage.