Mark Cavendish had to settle for second place behind Giacomo Nizzolo on the opening stage of the Tour of Croatia on Tuesday.
It was the fifth time this season that the Manxman has finished second in a sprint and he remains on two wins for the year.
The top three on the day received 10, six and four bonus seconds, meaning Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) leads Cavendish by four seconds and third-placed Timothy Dupont (Verandas Willems) by six seconds overall.
Britain's Chris Opie (ONE Pro Cycling) finished fourth on the day, while Owain Doull (WIGGINS) was 20th.
The race continues on Wednesday with a 240km second stage from Plitvice to Split.
Meanwhile, at the Giro del Trentino in Italy, Astana defeated Team Sky by 14 seconds to win the opening stage's 12.1km team time trial.
Valerio Agnoli was the Kazakh squad's first rider over the line and takes the leader's purple jersey, but of more significance is the early advantage Vincenzo Nibali now has over Team Sky's Mikel Landa, who is his main rival for overall victory.
The other race favourite, Romain Bardet, is also 14 seconds down on Nibali after his Ag2r-La Mondiale team finished third, on the same time as Team Sky.
The four-day race continues on Wednesday with a 220km second stage from Arco to Anras, ending with a category-two hill-top finish.