Maxim Van Gils of Lotto Soudal won stage four of the Saudi Tour on Friday and took over the race lead after powering clear on a steep final climb.
The 22-year-old Belgian rider caught and dropped Andrea Bagioli as the Italian attacked on the ascent to Skyviews of Harrat Uwayrid in the last 10 kilometres.
Van Gils resisted attempts to reel him in after crossing the summit first and rode alone to the finish as strong winds broke up the peloton over the course of the of the 149km route.
He crossed the line 40 seconds ahead of Slovenia's Luka Mezgec and will replace Santiago Buitrago in the leader's jersey going into Saturday's concluding stage which starts and ends in Al-Ula Old Town.
"We are here with Caleb (Ewan) for the stage wins, but I was here for the GC," said Van Gils, who leads Buitrago by 36sec after earning his first win as a professional.
"It was my job to get a good GC and today was a perfect day, so to finish it off is really nice."