The Alto de Paüls was never steep enough to threaten GC gaps, but it was always going to sort sprinters from survivors. It was UAE Team Emirates-XRG's tempo at the base of the climb that did that sorting, dropping Groves and Pedersen before the finish in Roquetes. Van Aert and Laporte then delivered Brennan through the final kilometers with a lead-out he called «pretty spot-on» — a textbook finish built on a selection Visma didn't even have to force themselves.