American Chris Horner captured stage four with a dynamic uphill ride to seize the overall lead Wednesday at the Tour of California.
The 39-year-old RadioShack team rider finished 10th in the Tour de France as the top American in 2010.
He finished Wednesday's 132 kilometre (81.8 mile) Livermore to San Jose road race in three hours, 27 minutes and 51 seconds.
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Luxembourg's Andy Schleck, of Leopard-Trek, finished runner-up 1:15 adrift of Horner. Schleck placed second at the 2009 and 2010 Tour de France.
Third was Aussie Rory Sutherland, of United Healthcare.
Horner now leads the eight-day event by 1:15 over American teammate Levi Leipheimer. At last year's Tour of California, Horner placed fourth.
American Tom Danielson, of Garmin-Cervelo, is third overall, just 1:22 behind.
