Mark Cavendish finished second on the second stage of Ster ZLM Toer, but time bonuses saw the world champion claim the overall lead in his final race before the Tour de France.
Cavendish, who was third behind Marcel Kittel in Thursday's opening stage, had to settle for the runners-up spot behind Andre Griepel (Lotto-Belisol) and ahead of Mark Renshaw (Rabobank), another of the Manxman's former team-mates, on Friday's 167-kilometre stage through the Limburg hills in southern Holland.
Time bonuses saw him claim the yellow jersey, as well as the points classification's green jersey.
Cavendish, Renshaw, Griepel and Kittel (Argos-Shimano) enter the final two stages level at the top of the general classification rankings, with the race to finish on Sunday.
Cavendish wrote on Twitter: "Beaten by another massive German today in a wet £SterZLMtoer, but happy to have yellow & green jerseys! Congratulations to @AndreGreipel."