[13] Only one rider bettered his time for the course, and it was the rider that started immediately after him; Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) set the fastest time of 3' 29",[16] taking his team's fourteenth victory of the year, and his first since returning to the roads after a successful UCI Track World Championships,[17] where he claimed a gold medal and a silver medal.

[15] Overall contenders Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team), Jérôme Coppel (Saur–Sojasun), as well as Wiggins and van Garderen's team-mate Cadel Evans all finished outside the top ten after starting in the worst of the conditions; Wiggins placed best in eleventh, having again encountered wet conditions as he had done in the opening stage of March's Paris–Nice race.

[20] Prologue Result and General Classification after Prologue Four riders – BMC Racing Team's Martin Kohler, Kenny Dehaes of Lotto–Belisol, Angelo Tulik (Team Europcar) and Saur–Sojasun rider Jimmy Engoulvent[22] – advanced clear of the main field in the early running of the stage; the quartet managed to extend their advantage to a maximum of over five minutes around a third of the way through the stage.

[23] With all the riders close together time-wise following the prologue stage, Team Sky were mainstays at the front of the peloton, trying to chip away at the advantage of the breakaway prior to the final finishing loop of 65 km (40.4 mi) around La Chaux-de-Fonds.

[23] Team Sky were in formation at the head of the field, with the entire team except for Richie Porte, setting the tempo and continued to steadily cutting into the advantage that the lead four riders held; with 50 km (31.1 mi), the gap had been cut to around 2' 20", with Liquigas–Cannondale also shadowing the British squad, but allowing them to take a free range of the pace being set.

Over the next 20 km (12.4 mi), the leaders' gap was cut to around a minute, prior to the second of the day's three categorised climbs, the second-category Haut de la Côte.

Continued pressure at the head of the main field meant that riders were dislodged from the rear of pack, and those included prologue winner Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendish.

[28] Two riders – GreenEDGE's Christian Meier and Lotto–Belisol rider Lars Bak[30] – went clear of the main field in the early running of the stage – beginning just over the Swiss-French border in the city of Montbéliard – and managed to extend their advantage to a maximum of almost four minutes at one stage of the parcours, slightly less than the advantage that was given to a breakaway quartet the previous day.

At this point, Branislau Samoilau attacked off the front of the peloton for the Movistar Team,[32] but could not gather a sufficient advantage from the field; with a maximum gap of just 22 seconds, Samoilau was more likely to be reabsorbed into the pack, and that scenario played out several kilometres along the parcours – at around the 40 km (24.9 mi) to go mark – with the gap to Meier and Bak dropping to just over two-and-a-half minutes as they started to tire out front, having completed over 100 km (62.1 mi) together off the head of the peloton.

Team Sky, and later GreenEDGE, slowly brought the pair back, with Luke Durbridge setting the pace for the latter squad,[32] and achieved the catch with 4 km (2.5 mi) to go.

This ultimately set up a sprint finish in Moutier, where Stetina's team-mate Ryder Hesjedal attacked first,[31] but was usurped by both Rui Costa (Movistar Team),[34] and Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank); however, all three riders were beaten to the line by Jonathan Hivert,[35] taking his first win at World Tour level for Saur–Sojasun.

[37] The gap to the peloton was tumbling quickly, as Saur–Sojasun, the team of the previous day's winner Jonathan Hivert, were striving on the front of the main field.

Further attacks from Saur–Sojasun's Fabrice Jeandesboz, Astana pair Roman Kreuziger and Janez Brajkovič, Team Katusha's Simon Špilak as well as Vacansoleil–DCM rider Johnny Hoogerland were all thwarted quickly.

[37][38] With their main sprinter Michael Matthews not in contention in the peloton, Rabobank put their sprint hopes in Luis León Sánchez, who had finished third into Moutier.

After several unsuccessful attacks set the course of the early running – as the field remained as one – for much of the first half-hour of racing; it was not until the Col des Mosses that the stage's primary breakaway had been formed.

The headwinds did claim one victim as Tschopp's team-mate Tejay van Garderen was struck by a falling tree branch on the descent from the Col des Mosses.

[47] The leaders split up after the second-category climb to Basse-Nendaz, as Tschopp, Ignatenko and Levarlet left the other three riders behind and set off to try and extend their ever-reducing advantage to the main pack.

[46] It eventually came down to a final sprint to the line in Sion, where Luis León Sánchez took the stage victory for the second consecutive day, winning by a bike length.

Thus, Danny Pate of Team Sky, who, in 138th place,[46] trailed overall leader Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank) by forty-five minutes and twenty-six seconds, was the first rider to set off on the final stage.

[61] The time was more than good enough to win the race overall, as Sánchez lost over a minute as last man on the road, which dropped him from the lead to tenth place in the final standings.