Mark Cavendish fell to second in the Tour of Qatar standings after Dimension Data team-mate Edvald Boasson Hagen rode to victory in Lusail.
Cavendish, who owns a property in Ongar, held a five-second cushion going into Wednesday’s time trial but finished in seventh place on the day with a time of 14:10.44.
NL-Jumbo’s Jos Van Emden held a lead for the majority of the 11km time trial before Boasson Hagen finished with a time of 13 minutes 26.98 seconds, winning the stage by a margin of 25 seconds.
The Norwegian’s ride was strong enough to secure him the race leader’s gold jersey and enable him to hold a 26 second advantage over Cavendish.
BMC Racing team’s Manuel Quinziato moved up to third place overall.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here