John Degenkolb's (Trek-Segafredo) abandon due to illness brought down to 192 the number of riders taking the start from Benicassim. The lumpy winding roads leading to Alcossebre attracted many attackers. Julian Alaphilippe (Quick Step), Ruben Fernandez and Marc Soler (Movistar Team), Michael Schwarzmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r La Mondiale), Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac), Marco Haller and Matvey Mamykin (Katusha-Alpecin), Matej Mohoric (UAE Team Emirates), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Valerio Agnoli (Bahrain-Merida), Jérémy Maison (FDJ), Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data), Lluis Mas and Hector Saez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Michel Kreder (Aqua Blue Sport) and Jetse Bol (Manzana-Postobon) quickly jumped ahead of the bunch. Matvey Mamykin (Katusha-Alpecin) joined them after 32km of hard racing.
The collaboration between the 17 riders at the front of the race wasn't enough to build a substantial lead. Chris Froome's Team Sky controlled the gap between 3'30” and 4'30” for most of the stage. At the front, Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac) dominated the four first climbs of the day to extend his lead in the KOM classification.
The situation heated up in the final 45km, following an attack from Marco Haller. Alexey Lutsenko joined him with 33km to go and the following battle tore the leading group into pieces while the gap with the peloton suddenly rose, up to 7 minutes as the race entered the last 20km.
Lutsenko unleashed his raw power to eventually drop Marco Haller in the final climb and cap his brilliant ride with a solo victory. Among the GC contenders, Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) crossed the line ahead of Chris Froome (Team Sky). Only Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac) and Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) could follow them while Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) lost 26” and Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) 49”.
