Danny van Poppel denied Ethan Vernon a home victory via a photo finish on stage six of the Tour of Britain.
Vernon took the lead during a sprint finish in Harlow, only for Bora-hansgrohe’s Van Poppel, 30, to snatch victory with a late lunge for the line.
That ended Jumbo-Visma’s 100% record this year as Olav Kooij took the first four stages before Wout van Aert won on Thursday to take the overall lead.
The Belgian star remains top of the general classification standings.
He is just three seconds ahead of a group of 52 riders led by Vernon, Kooij and Van Poppel, with Ineos Grenadiers’ British star Tom Pidcock in fifth.
Part of a six-man Great Britain team, 23-year-old Vernon has finished on the podium in each of the last four stages in the eight-stage race.
Two TdT-Unibet riders were the last to be caught from the initial breakaway on Friday’s relatively flat 146.2km route from Southend.
Dimitri Peyskens launched an attack 6.5km from the finish before being swallowed up by the peloton with 2.7km remaining.
Saturday’s stage is classified as hilly and is 170.9km long from Tewkesbury to Gloucester.
Stage six results
1. Danny van Poppel (Ned/Bora-hansgrohe) 3hrs 14mins 34secs
2. Ethan Vernon (GB/Great Britain) Same time
3. Tord Gudmestad (Nor/Uno-X Pro Cycling)
4. Olav Kooij (Ned/Jumbo-Visma)
5. Casper van Uden (Ned/DSM-Firmenich)
6. Nicolo Parisini (Ita/Q36.5 Pro Cycling)
7. Davide Persico (Ita/Bingoal WB)
8. Robert Donaldson (GB/Trinity Racing
9. Tom Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers)
10. Szymon Sajnok (Pol/Q36.5 Pro Cycling)
General classification after stage six
1. Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma) 21hrs 00mins 10secs
2. Ethan Vernon (GB/Great Britain) +3secs
3. Olav Kooij (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) Same time
4. Danny van Poppel (Ned/Bora-hansgrohe)
5. Tom Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers)
6. Davide Bomboi (Bel/TdT-Unibet)
7. Casper van Uden (Ned/DSM-Firmenich)
8. Davide Persico (Ita/Bingoal WB)
9. Gonzalo Serrano (Spa/Movistar)
10. Max Kanter (Ger/Movistar)
