World champion Tom Boonen of Belgium showed he was back to his best with victory in stage one of the Benelux Tour on Thursday, to take the overall race lead.
Boonen failed to win a stage on the Tour de France last month and retired from the race in the Alps but the Belgian earned his 18th victory of the season with a powerful burst of speed in the final 200 metres of the 176 km stage to Hoogeveen in northern Holland.
Italy's Simone Cadamuro of the Milram team was second and compatriot Enrico Gasparotto of the Liquigas team was third.
Boonen took the race lead from Germany's Stefan Schumacher thanks to a 10-second time bonus for his stage win. Schumacher is second overall, four seconds adrift.