Australian champion, Rohan Dennis, has climbed to victory in the fifth stage to take over the lead in the International Thüringen Tour in Germany with one stage left to race.
The Jayco-AIS rider, who is the reigning U23 time trial and road race national champion, lined up as a strong favourite for the 8.4 kilometre uphill time trial stage from Gräfenroda to the winter sports capital of Oberhof.
The 22-year-old clocked 16:43.45 to better the time of second placed Frenchman Johan Le Bon (17:11.30) by almost half a minute.
"Wow that hurt but on a brighter note I'm glad I could deliver for the team when it mattered," tweeted Dennis after his lung-busting ride to the top.
Dennis went into the penultimate stage trailing a trio of Rabobank riders by three seconds as a result of the Team Jayco-AIS second place ride in the prologue that kicked off the tour on Saturday. But his stage win has put him in the tour leader's jersey with a leading margin of 28 seconds on Le Bon while Dutch rider Marc Goss (Rabobank) 56 seconds behind in third place.
"One day to go lets finish this!" urged Dennis who is hoping to defend the lead in the final stage which is a hilly 143 kilometre course around the town of Zeulenroda.
Dennis is also a member of Australia's team pursuit squad for the Olympic Games.
Video Highlights Stage 5
Interview with Rohan before Stage 6
The Jayco-AIS team in the Tour is:
Rohan Dennis
Jay McCarthy
Patrick Lane
Michael Freiberg
Calvin Watson
Damien Howson
Rohan Dennis climbed to the top of the GC in Germany
Rohan Dennis climbed to the top of the GC in Germany
Rohan Dennis climbed to the top of the GC in Germany
Rohan Dennis climbed to the top of the GC in Germany