Lars Boom put in unbelievably quick split times and held on until the end to win a windy Stage 5 of the 2017 Tour of Britain.
Team Sky packed riders in to the top 10 to set the stage for some interesting tactics over the next few stages, yet it will be advantage Lotto NL-Jumbo who now hold the leaders Green jersey a margin of 8 seconds.
Team Sky's sprinter Elia Viviani put in a strong time-trial to finish in the top 50 yet had to relinquish the Green Jersey to the Belgian rouleur Boom.
Tour of Britain 2017 Stage 5: How it happened
With the first four stages of the 2017 Tour of Britain ending in bunch sprints the GC battle had yet to heat up, so the Stage 5's 16km individual time-trial around Clacton in Essex was the first chance for the overall contenders to put some time gaps into their rivals.
A group of around 20 key riders, which contained Team Sky's Geraint Thomas and Vasil Kiryienka, Katusha-Alpencin's Tony Martin and Lotto NL-Jumbo's Primoz Roglic, all sat around 20 secs off the race lead, meaning today would likely prove to be key because conceivably the rider that could eke out a lead stood a good chance of maintaining that advantage until the end of the race, finishing in Cardiff on the last stage with the green leader's jersey on their back.
Marcin Bialoblocki of CCC-Sprandi-Polkowice was the first recognised time-triallist home, clocking a time of 19'34" on the classic British 10-mile TT course, yet that was soon beaten by Bike Channel-Canyon's British rider Harry Tanfield, who posted a 19'28" to follow his strong 7th place on yesterday's stage.
Orica-Scott's Luke Durbridge showed his class and WorldTour experience to oust Tanfield from the hot seat with a 19'23", but lasted only 20 minutes before Kiryienka came home in 19'09" - a time that looked like it would take some beating.
Yet he was one of the first of a host of big names to complete the course and his split times were being beaten by Sky teammate Michal Kwiatkowski and local lad Alex Dowsett. The Movistar rider had the home-field advantage, racing on local roads with huge support yet disappointingly finished a considerable way down with a 19'23".
Team Sky's Geraint Thomas put in a strong performance to the delight of the crowds - clocking 19'19" to stake a claim for the overall lead.
Belgian Victor Campenaerts of Lotto-NL-Jumbo gave it everything after Thomas, keeping pace with stage leader Kiryienka at every split and finishing strongly to best the Belurussian's time by just 1 second, but his time was always under threat by his long-limbed teammate Lars Boom who set lightning-quick splits to smash Campenaerts' time by 6 seconds, clocking a 19'02".
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension-Data), by virtue of bonuses picked up in previous bunch sprints, was only 7 seconds down on race leader Elia Viviani (Team Sky), yet couldn't challenge Boom with his 19'32", so will hope to pick up more bonus seconds in the upcoming stages.
Tony Martin was the last real threat to Boom's lead yet finished down in sixth, highlighting the Belgian's strong performance in tough conditions.
Tour of Britain Stage 5: Tendring - Tendring (ITT), 16.2km, result
1. Lars Boom (NED) LottoNL-Jumbo, 19:02
2. Victor Campenaerts (NED) LottoNl-Jumbo, at 0:06
3. Vasil Kiryienka (BLR) Team Sky, at 0:07
4. Stefan Kung (SUI) BMC Racing, at 0:08
5. Jos Van Emden (NED) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 0:11
6. Tony Martin (GER) Katusha-Alpecin, at 0:12
7. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) Team Sky, at 0:17
8. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Team Sky, at same time
9. Alex Dowsett (GBR) Movistar, at 0:21
10. Luke Durbridge (AUS) Orica-Scott, at st
Tour of Britain: General Classification after Stage 5
1. Lars Boom (NED) LottoNL-Jumbo, 17:57:25
2. Victor Campenaerts (BEL) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 0:08
3. Vasil Kiryienka (BLR) Team Sky, at 0:09
4. Stefan Kung (SUI) BMC Racing, at 0:10
5. Jos Van Emden (NED) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 0:13
6. Tony Martin (GER) Katusha-Alpecin, at 0:14
7. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) Team Sky, at 0:19
8. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) Dimension Data, at same time
9. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Team Sky, at same time
10. Alex Dowsett (GBR) Movistar, at 0:23