Philippe Gilbert moved into the overall lead of this year's Eneco Tour after another impressive showing saw him cruise to victory in today's third stage.
He attacked on the Cote de la Flime, 7km from the finishing town of Andenne, and never looked liked being caught.
The Omega Pharma-Lotto rider crossed the line nine seconds ahead of a chasing group which included Britain's David Millar, and leads Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen by six seconds.
Millar sits well-placed in third, a further nine seconds adrift going into tomorrow's 14.7km individual time trial in Roermond.
Classic Gilbert
Cheered on by a large home crowd, the Belgian national champion was the favourite heading into the stage, which was undulating throughout.
Several climbs littered the 191km route, including the Mur de Huy, which was tackled far too early to play a contributing role in today's result.
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The race began splitting up on the Chemin des Geuses, some 27km from the finish, with Ben Swift (Team Sky) one of the first to lose contact with the peloton.
Gilbert's team were working hard at the front of the race, and as soon as he attacked race leader Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing) was immediately in trouble.
Millar tried responding to the blistering attack, but simply could not match Gilbert's sheer acceleration.
Luckily for him, Boasson Hagen and a host of others, the chasing group worked cohesively and while they were unable to catch the lone leader, they came home just nine seconds behind Gilbert.
The Belgian took over the race lead by virtue of the ten second prime at the finish, but could well lose it tomorrow with two time trial specialists sitting within 15 seconds of him on GC.
Results
Eneco Tour: Stage 3, Heers-Andenne, 191.2km
1. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto in 4-54-52
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