The team's good planning and teamwork allowed Mollema and Ten Dam to be up in the first group between Tours and Saint-Amand-Monrond. They crossed the line as third and eighth, and gained 1’09” on leader Chris Froome (Sky).

The importance of good preparations and the current good mood inside the team was emphasized by Lars Boom after the stage.

"Today [Friday] we fully benefited from the fact that the Sports Directors reconned many of the stages, including this one,” Boom said. During our preparation, Weerplaza kept us very specifically informed about the wind, which was great. All details worked in our advantage. Obviously, the mood in the team is very good at the moment."

Laurens ten Dam suspected that the Saxo-Tinkoff team had planned a surprise attack since they hadn’t joined previous efforts to set the pace. He warned teammate Mollema and the duo was able to latch on as Contador and his teammates launched their offensive.

"In the final I had a feeling that Saxo-Tinkoff was up to something. They hadn't done so much work until then. When they attacked I immediately shouted to Bauke and therefore we were the first to join. The first kilometre was very hard, but when the peloton broke behind, I knew we were in a good spot. It's great that we gained time on Froome and both gain a spot in the GC. That's also due to our good preparation."

Bauke Mollema said that the team was already in the process of creating an echelon when the news of Valverde’s misfortunes reached them.

"We did really good work. Laurens and I ended up in the first group, but without the help of the guys, we couldn't have done that. They did a superb job. They kept us at the front of the peloton all the time and it paid off. When Valverde punctured, we were already up front. At that point, we had planned to make an echelon. Later on, we heard Valverde suffered from bad luck. The minute we gained on Froome and the other GC riders is a very nice bonus. It already looked good for me, but it's only getting better."