The Russian athlete, who has been allowed to compete due to not being a member of a team from his nation or Belarus, won the 193 kilometre stage from Ambri to Novazzano in 4hrs 30mins 38secs.

Vlasov edged Neilson Powless of the United States and Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark in second and third.

The trio were fighting towards the final stretch, but Israel-Premier Tech’s Fuglsang struggled to power past Vlasov.

EF Education-EasyPost’s Powless offered the greater challenge, pushing the Russian to the limit.

However, he fell just short of his opponent.

"The race was very hard," Vlasov said afterwards.

"The final circuit was very hard and hot.

"It was important to keep the positions and the guys did a very good job."

Vlasov leapfrogged Stephen Williams in the overall standings with a time of 22:16:56 after the Briton experienced a day to forget in Switzerland, losing contact with the peloton during the stage.

Fuglsang and Britain’s Geraint Thomas, who finished fourth in stage five, trail the overall leader by six and seven seconds, in second and third places overall respectively.

Riders are due to race over 180km from Locarno to Moosalp tomorrow.