The 173 km queen stage circled the punchy hills around Durbuy and finished on the savage Muur van Durbuy, the day every GC contender had marked as decisive. An early breakaway was allowed little rope and was hauled back before the final laps as the strongest teams massed at the front. A flurry of attacks lit up the closing kilometres; Toon Aerts tried a late move in the last kilometre but was swallowed up on the climb to the line. Lewis Askey opened the uphill sprint on the steep ramps, but Alex Aranburu came over the top of him in the final metres to take the win, with Carlos Canal third. The time gaps and bonuses on the Muur reshaped the overall: Aranburu took the leader's jersey, while the sprinters who had led the race lost contact on the climbs.

Aranburu's win and the bonus seconds on the Muur van Durbuy put him into the overall lead. Behind him the GC tightened among the punchy survivors: Jenno Berckmoes sat second at two seconds, Quinten Hermans third at three, and Lewis Askey fourth at four. Tim Merlier and the pure sprinters who had held the lead through the first two days were distanced on the climbs and dropped out of GC contention.