The 187.4 km second stage from Glisy to Liévin produced the upset of the week. As early as km 13, Nice Métropole-Côte d'Azur placed two riders — Victor Papon and Jaakko Hänninen — in the move of the day, joined by Maël Guégan (CIC), Kévin Avoine and Daniel Årnes (both Van Rysel-Roubaix). The five built a lead of up to four minutes with about 100 km remaining. The sprinters' teams (EF, Red Bull-BORA, Unibet) eventually organised the chase, but the gap held to the line. Papon timed his sprint to perfection in Liévin, beating Guégan and Avoine for Nice Métropole's first victory of the 2026 season. The peloton, led in by Laurence Pithie, arrived seven seconds later.

With the break only seven seconds clear, the GC top order barely moved: Pithie still led by four seconds over Coquard, with Askey third. The bigger consequence was off the GC — Papon added the points jersey to his existing mountains lead, and Van Rysel-Roubaix took over the teams classification on the strength of two riders in the day's break.