With Van Aert wearing the black points jersey, the peloton set off from Beromünster to Notwill for a 174-kilometre stage. Two riders decided to attack early and opened up a four-minute lead. The duo was caught about 20 kilometres from the finish, and the sprinters' teams took control.

Mick van Dijke propelled Van Aert to the lead in the last kilometres. The Belgian set up the sprint early but in the last metres, Girmay and Demare past him. With the four bonification seconds he gained, Van Aert closed the gap on race leader Küng to six seconds.

"It was a chaotic sprint. In the final kilometre, I was too far behind, but due to Mick, I was still able to make up some ground. When I saw the gap, I went for it, but it proved too early. In the end, I couldn't hold on. If I had read the situation better, I could have won the stage", Van Aert reflected on his sprint.

The Belgian rider intends to help Wilco Kelderman as much as possible in the coming days. The Dutchman has been appointed leader of Team Jumbo-Visma in Switzerland. "Wilco is in good shape and has set his sights on a good classification. I want to help him and I will try to keep the black points jersey."

Koen Bouwman crashed hard but managed to finish the stage.