Italian Matteo Trentin regained the overall lead of the Tour of Britain after finishing third in stage five.
The 174.1km stage, which started and finished in Birkenhead with the route taking the riders through Cheshire, was won by Dutch rider Dylan Groenewegen.
Groenewegen, racing for Team Jumbo-Visma, finished in the same time as Britain's Matt Walls and Trentin.
Trentin, riding for Mitchelton-Scott, holds a three-second overall lead over Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel.
Thirty-year-old Trentin had been top after stage three, but dropped behind Van der Poel after the fourth stage before reclaiming top spot a day later and now holds a three-second advantage.
The sixth of eight stages takes place on Thursday and is a 14.4km individual time trial in Pershore, Worcestershire.
Groenewegen's victory on stage five was his third in five days of the competition after also winning stage one from Glasgow to Kirkcudbright on Saturday and stage three from Berwick to Newcastle on Monday, although he sits 61st overall.
With three stages remaining, there are three British riders in the top 20. Ben Swift from Team Ineos is sixth, Matthew Holmes of Madison Genesis is 15th with Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling's James Shaw in 19th.
1. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/Team Jumbo-Visma) 3hrs 57mins 31secs
2. Matt Walls (GB/Great Britain Cycling Team) same time
3. Matteo Trentin (Ita/Mitchelton-Scott)
4. Cees Bol (Ned/Team Sunweb)
5. Davide Cimolai (Ita/Israel Cycling Academy)
1. Matteo Trentin (Ita/Mitchelton-Scott) 21hrs 33mins 55secs
2. Mathieu Van der Poel (Ned/Corendon-Circus) + 3 secs
3. Jasper de Buyst (Bel/Lotto-Soudal) + 10 secs
4. Simon Clarke (Aus/EF Education First) + 17 secs
5. Mike Teunissen (Ned/Team Jumbo-Visma) + 18 secs
6. Ben Swift (GB/Team Ineos) + 22 secs