Sam Watson sprinted to third place in Germany, while the Vuelta a Espana got underway in Turin.
The British champion launched his sprint to perfection, but barges and swerves interrupted the finish as he held on to cross the line in fourth. A review of the sprint saw winner Danny van Poppel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) relegated, moving Watson up to third on the stage, and fourth on the GC with one stage remaining.
As the final Grand Tour of the year got underway in Turin, the Grenadiers worked as a team to deliver Ben Turner to the finish in Novara after a flat opening stage.
Turner was led out by Michal Kwiatkowski as the sprint opened up in the final kilometre. The British rider did well to recover from a dropped chain, and finished in 12th place.
Over in Belgium at the Renewi Tour, Axel Laurance sprinted to seventh place on the fourth stage as the peloton caught the break in the final four kilometres.
Artem Shmidt delivered Laurance to the line in style, with Laurance sprinting to seventh position in a fast finish.