Team Sky's Geraint Thomas has won the Bayern Rundfahrt time trial.
The Welshman completed the 25.5km course which started and finished in Wassertrüdingen in 30.49 to take over the lead of the race from Mathias Fränk of BMC who finished six and lost thirty seconds to Thomas.
it was a stage which had seen Fabian Cancellera installed as the favourite but the Swiss rider finished a minute down on Thomas' time.
Thomas now leads Mathias Frank by nineteen seconds and team mate Vasil Kiryienka by thirty five seconds going into the final stage on Sunday.
"It was great to take the jersey but it was really nice to win the stage too, " Thomas told the Team Sky Website
"I wasn’t expecting that to be honest. There are quite a few good time triallist here – Fabian (Cancellara), Jan Barta, (David) Millar and quite a few other decent guys, so it was a nice bonus to take the stage.
“I was quite relaxed heading into the stage and looking forward to a good blast around. It was all about trying to ride it well and I think I did that. I didn’t feel super, but I felt like I could get some decent power out. It was just nice to finish it off.
“It was nice to get into the lead after the boys have helped me the last few days. The last few years this final stage has been a sprint. We’ve got a strong team to defend that and, barring any incidents, I’m hoping it should be okay. There’s just 160km to go I guess.”