the first shakeup of the race occurred on stage six, where the breakaway took the stage. fausto masnada (androni giocattoli-sidermec) beat valerio conti () to the line, beating the peloton by a full seven minutes. conti was handed over the "maglia rosa" with the rest of the breakaway riders between him and roglič because of this. giovanni carboni (bardiani-csf) gained the young rider classification also. stage seven was another day for the breakaway, this time pello bilbao () fending off tony gallopin (ag2r la mondiale) for the victory. stage eight saw caleb ewan (lotto soudal) take the sprint over elia viviani and pascal ackermann, the holder of the "maglia ciclamino" at the time. stage nine, the san marino time trial that would round out the first week, saw primož roglič victorious again, this time only 11 seconds over victor campernaerts (lotto soudal) and a full minute over bauke mollema () and the rest of the gc favorites. conti still held the "maglia rosa."