Czech star Petr Vakoc (OPQS) produced a magnificent ride on Stage 2 of the Tour de Pologne to win the stage and take over the lead in the general classification.
The 22-year-old's first career victory at WorldTour level came after he dropped the remaining members of the day's breakaway inside the final 20 kilometres of the stage from Torun to Warsaw.
By the end of the day, Vakoc had been off the front of the peloton for 200 of the stage's 226 kilometres.
And the win meant he is now sitting pretty at the top of the general classification, with a 27-second lead over Yauheni Hutarovich (Ag2r-La Mondiale), who spent the day in the leader's jersey having won the opening stage on Sunday.
“The toughest moment was when we started the finishing circuit. The gap was falling fast and my legs started to tire a bit," said Vakoc.
"Then with five kilometers to go it started to get really hard, but I just gave it everything for those last five kilometers. I didn’t think about anything other than use every ounce of energy that I had.
"It’s a beautiful moment for me. I didn’t expect it, and it seems neither did the peloton.
"When the three of us went away and had a gap at first I wasn’t so sure about my decision, but then I thought maybe if the gap kept going up and I save enough energy in the final kilometers, I can try to go alone.
"I was thinking about it, to try and have some energy left to win a stage.
The youngster paid tribute to both the race's host nation and his team-mates.
“It’s a great feeling to have this effort pay off and earn my first UCI WorldTour victory of my career here in Poland.
"It seems Poland brings me luck as both of my university championship victories also happened here a few weeks ago.
"Now, I’d like to fight to keep the jersey as long as I can. It will be hard, but I will fight, and I know my teammates will fight with me. We will see in the coming days.
"I’d like to thank OPQS for giving me a chance today, and at Tour of Poland, in this jersey that I am so proud to wear.”
The race continues on Tuesday, with Stage 3 taking the peloton over a 174 kilometre route from Kielce to Rzeszów.