American George Hincapie moved up from fourth to lead the overall standings in the Eneco Tour of Benelux after capturing Sunday's stage-4 time trial around Landgraaf in the Netherlands.

The Discovery Channel rider took the leader's red jersey from Belgium's Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) after covering the 16.1km race against the clock in 19 minutes, 58 seconds.

Up-and-coming Italian rider Vicenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Bianchi) came in second, only 36 one-hundredths of a second adrift, with Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) seven seconds back in third. Boonen trailed in 62nd, crossing in 21:25.

"It was a really tough time trial, very technical with lots of bends and changes of rhythm, and I negotiated it perfectly," said Hincapie, who came close to winning this year's Tour de France prologue.

The 33-year-old added: "At the midway stage I knew I was behind Nibali and I gave it everything to make up the difference. Since the Tour de France I haven't put in a lot of training and I reckon my physical freshness paid off."

Hincapie, who has only won twice all season – two stages in the Tour of California at the start of the year – says he won't give up his lead without a fight.

"I'm confident because I'm in form and I can rely on a really good team to back me up," he said.

Monday's fifth stage is a 181.7km run between Hasselt and Boonen's home town of Balen. The Belgian world champion will be keen to add to his tally of two stage wins in the race so far.

The race through the Netherlands and Belgium, part of the ProTour series, finishes on Wednesday.

Stage 4
1. George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel, 16.1km in 19:58
2. Vincenzo Nibali (I), s.t.
3. Stefan Schumacher (G), at 0:07
4. Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Sp), at 0:14
5. Philippe Gilbert (B), at 0:16

Overall standings
1. George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel, 13:32:35
2. Stefan Schumacher (G) at 0:03
3. Vicenzo Nibali (I), at 0:11
4. Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Sp), at 0:15
5. Manuel Quinziato (I), at 0:31