Gavazzi hung close to the wheel of Kristof Vandewalle before sliding up the inside on the final stretch of a sprint finish to pass his Belgian opponent and win the stage in 4 hours, 24 minutes, 42 seconds for Lampre-ISD.

Cobo of Spain crossed the line 7:42 behind Gavazzi, as did closest challenger Christopher Froome of Britain who remained 13 seconds behind the overall leader.