An aggressive start saw a large group with Giulio Ciccone, Jasper Stuyven, Koen Bouwman and Christian Scaroni among others force an early gap, but the peloton clawed it back to gruppo compatto after roughly 30 km. The day stayed unsettled until Chris Harper, Andreas Leknessund and Mattia Bais got away and were joined by a dozen riders including Alberto Bettiol, Stuyven, Diego Ulissi, Aleksandr Vlasov and Ludovico Crescioli. Their lead stretched to 1:30 before the climb at La Foce dragged it under a minute, prompting Enric Mas and Lennert Van Eetvelt to give chase. They bridged across on the Passo del Termine alongside Jhonatan Narváez, Christian Scaroni, Brieuc Rolland, Filippo Zana and Warren Barguil.
The Colle di Guaitarola whittled the front group down, and the leaders crested four minutes clear of the peloton. On the descent Van Eetvelt, Zana and Scaroni hit the deck. Stuyven, Vlasov and Narváez jumped clear to start the Colla dei Scioli with a small lead before being rejoined; Ulissi then attacked inside the last 2 km, with only Harper, Mas, Vlasov and Narváez able to follow immediately. On the climb to Cogorno, Mas accelerated with Narváez glued to his wheel, and the pair moved through the village 26 seconds up on the chasers.
The two rode together to the line in Chiavari, where Narváez won the sprint with ease for his third stage win of this Giro. Over three minutes later the GC group rolled in together, leaving the overall standings untouched at the top and Eulálio safely in pink.