Thursday’s stage was another day with over 200 km on the menu and with temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius, it was no surprise that only three riders wanted to attack from the beginning.
The trio quickly gained a gap of over three minutes on the peloton but it never got much bigger than that.
The teams of the sprinters were determined not to let the break ruin the chances of a bunch sprint in Troyes.
However, the peloton almost left it too late as they only managed to catch the front riders with four kilometres left to go.
Soon after, the Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka riders hit the front, setting up Boasson Hagen for the sprint.
The team put in a huge performance to deliver the strong Norwegian in a good position.
Ultimately, Boasson Hagen had to settle for 13th place after trying a long sprint from far out.
Marcel Kittel (Quick Step Floors) took the win, while Chris Froome (Team Sky) defended the yellow jersey.
Serge Pauwels is still best-placed Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka rider in 20th place overall.
