Jacky Durand, always known for his attacking style, often riding ahead of the peloton for a large part of the stage, did it again this time. He attacked after 3 km, and got Franck Rénier with him. In the peloton, the third places in the bonus sprints (gaining 2 seconds) were fought. Ján Svorada took the first one before Zabel, protecting the interests of his teammate Bertogliati, but Zabel won the second and third, thus passing Bertogliati in the general classification.