Rohan Dennis (BMC) will wear the first yellow jersey of the 2015 Tour de France after taking the first stage in Utrecht.
The 25-year-old pulled off an upset to beat former time trial world champions Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek).
Dennis was not expected to challenge for the stage win, but handled the challenging second half of the course far better than Martin, Cancellara and Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), who missed out on the chance to take the Netherlands' first yellow jersey since 1989 on home soil.
"We decided to go off early, set a bench mark and make everyone else chase me. It worked out perfectly," Dennis said.
"There’s a little bit of shock. We’ve worked with the team and came out here bout a month ago to check and recon the course. It’s the Tour de France and the yellow jersey. I’ve always dreamed of being in this position and now I am.
"It started to sink in when I saw the big threats come in behind me. It was surreal but a few emotions came out."
Of the four main contenders for overall glory, it was defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) who came out on top.
The Italian national champion crossed the line in 22nd place on the stage, seven seconds ahead of Chris Froome (Sky), with Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) 15 and 18 seconds back respectively.
Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) was the fastest general classification rider, finishing 18th, narrowly edging out Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) in 20th.
The Tour continues on Sunday with a 166 kilometre stage from Utrecht to Zelande.