[2] Alejandro Valverde finished second, but his results during 2010 were expunged as part of the terms of his suspension for involvement in the 2006 Operación Puerto doping case.

Expecting to be beaten, Boom watched overall contenders like Levi Leipheimer, Alberto Contador, and defending champion Luis León Sánchez all fall short, giving the young Dutchman the win.

[8] What had the makings of a straightforward day of racing changed drastically in the final 3 km (1.9 mi), as strong crosswinds blasted the peloton.

Euskaltel–Euskadi had tried to place a rider in this breakaway attempt, but their team leader Samuel Sánchez had, incidentally, crashed moments earlier, meaning the squad had to rally around him.

Gilbert and Veelers stood little chance of staying away for the stage win on such a flat course, and were caught 50 km (31 mi) from the finish line.

After other ultimately inconsequential breakaway attempts that occurred after the catch, most of the peloton was together at the 3 km (1.9 mi) mark, when the strong winds started to blow.

[12] Another early breakaway took place on this stage, with the Dutch teams Vacansoleil and Skil–Shimano trying to prove their combativeness to the ASO to potentially get wildcard entries to the upcoming Tour de France.

Vacansoleil's Jens Mouris and Skil–Shimano's Koen de Kort were joined by Liquigas-Doimo rider Mauro Finetto and Saur-Sojasun's Laurent Mangel.

Peter Sagan was in first position on the road in sight of the finish line, but he was overhauled by Bbox Bouygues Telecom rider William Bonnet, giving that team its first win of the season on European soil.

Following a quick descent, the final 3 km (1.9 mi) of the stage were spent on the first-category Côte de la Croix Neuve climb in Mende, with a steady 10.7% grade.

[17] Wild card rivals Vacansoleil and Skil–Shimano were again active in the breakaways, placing Marco Marcato and Albert Timmer, respectively, in the day's principal break alongside Jérôme Pineau, Jean-Marc Marino, Julien Loubet, Amaël Moinard, and Mikel Nieve.

This group's maximum advantage was 1' 20", meaning Taaramäe was briefly race leader on the road, as he started the stage 1' 06" down to Alberto Contador.

The pace fractured the peloton, with Levi Leipheimer and Thomas Voeckler notables among a large group that lost 2' 36" at the finish line.

With 3 km (1.9 mi) left to go, Peter Sagan put in an "audacious" attack that won the young Slovak his second stage in three days.

Mountains classification leader Amaël Moinard was also in the break, and took top points on five of the stage's climbs to give himself an unassailable lead in those standings.

On the ascent of the Col de Vence, the only riders remaining from the break were Xavier Tondó, Alexandr Kolobnev, Cyril Gautier, Chavanel, and Cunego.

Various attacks and splits out of the peloton eventually absorbed all but Tondó, who soloed to the finish line with a 5-second advantage over the main field, led home by Alejandro Valverde.

When Peter Sagan won the first intermediate sprint, at the 18.5 km (11.5 mi) mark, he secured his victory in the points classification over Jens Voigt and Alejandro Valverde.

On the ascent of the Col de la Porte, Thomas Voeckler and mountains classification leader Amaël Moinard slipped away and built up a two-minute gap.

The chase began in earnest early on such a short stage, but because of the mountainous parcours the two still had a lead of 30 seconds on the descent of the Col d'Eze.

In defense of his yellow jersey, Alberto Contador went on the attack to try to reel in Moinard and Voeckler on the ascent of the Col d'Eze, taking with him Luis León Sánchez, Valvede, Rein Taaramäe, and Joaquim Rodríguez.