Marcel Kittel won the stage after the hot 213.5-kilometre run from Troyes. Chris Froome kept the yellow jersey lead. 

“It was a very long and fast sprint,” Groenewegen said. “My legs were not so good today. My legs felt quite heavy when I arrived in the wheel of Kristoff. When I finally sprinted, my legs were quite OK, so maybe I need to get up on the pedals earlier. Maybe I just need to sprint and see where it takes me."

“I want to ride a perfect sprint. Maybe I just have to think that the other sprinters are getting tired as well. You always want more and that is what we aim for. Kittel and Démare are very strong at the moment."

“We keep on trying and maybe that will work out. First, I have to survive the two upcoming mountain stages. Then I will sprint for what I am worth.” 

“We wanted to be in a good position at five kilometres from the finish line,” Timo Roosen said. “That went well, but cost much energy and we lost some men doing that. From there on, it went wrong."

“We needed to try and take advantage of other sprint trains because we had lost our helpers who had already given it their all to get us in good position. It was very difficult to get in between those trains. If it does not go as planned, you can blame yourself. The last part needs to go better.” 

“We lost each other,” Tom Leezer added. “The first kilometre after I lost Dylan, I waited. After that I dropped myself a bit from the front and searched for Dylan. I should have stayed there in the end. When I let go a bit, Dylan passed me, so I was not able to help him that way either. That was a shame." 

Leezer found today’s “nervous” stage different from yesterday’s. 

“With side winds and GC riders who were afraid there would be echelons. With 80 kilometres from the line, it was like war." 

“In the last five kilometres, we were rocked with side winds again. That made it a very different sprint. The first part of the stage, we rode relatively easily. The last part of the stage, we definitely made up for that.”