In the men's category, Andreas Seewald gave a demonstration of strength and power on a day that, on paper, was not the most favourable for him. The German Canyon-Northwave rider flew from the early stages of the day and chased down European XCM champion Fabian Rabensteiner (Willier-Pirelli) in just over 15 minutes of racing. A sign that his pace was very high. Seewald is the current vice-world champion and with today's stage victory he gave a warning about his great form. Poland's Krzysztof Lukasik (JBG2-Cryospace) came closest to his spectacular time of 46:03, losing 15 seconds and proving that he is getting better and better every year at this event. Georg Egger, winner of the last edition of the Mediterranean Epic, started the race with a good start in 3rd place and, although he lost 27 seconds to his compatriot Seewald, he showed that he is ready to defend his title in the coming days.
In the women's category, the young Luisa Daubermann, only 20 years old and a member of the Trek Future Racing team, made the most of a type of effort that perfectly matched her characteristics as an XCO rider. She ended up setting the best time ahead of one of the clear favourites, Swiss rider Janina Wust (Buff-Megamo) who was 14 seconds off the lead.