The 163.9 km finale from AlUla Old Town to the steep summit of Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid was always going to decide everything. After more than 15 km of fighting, a seven-man break formed (De Bondt, Van den Heede, Fretin, Boulahoitte, Ibanez, Iacomoni, Lozano), reaching a maximum gap of around 3:10 at km 130 before Bahrain and Tudor chased it down. Drama struck at km 88 when third-placed Sergio Higuita and team-mate Fedorov crashed, but both remounted. On the lower slopes of the final climb the sprinters, Milan included, were dropped, and the last escapees were caught at km 154. Higuita, undeterred by his crash, attacked first on the steepest ramps and crested with Maurice Vansevenant and Byron Munton, while race leader Yannis Voisard was the first of the big names dropped. On the long summit straight Jan Christen bridged across to the leaders and then went solo with 4 km to go, his lead growing all the way to the line. He won the stage by 11 seconds over Munton and 32 over team-mate Igor Arrieta.

Christen's stage win and bonus seconds vaulted him from contender to champion: he sealed the overall by 13 seconds over Sergio Higuita and 21 over team-mate Igor Arrieta for a UAE 1-3, with Stefan de Bod fourth at +25 and Afonso Eulálio fifth at +29. Former leader Yannis Voisard, dropped on the climb, slid to sixth overall. Christen also took the white young-rider jersey, while Jonathan Milan's earlier wins secured the points classification and UAE Team Emirates won the teams prize.