"On the circuits I saw mostly Danish guys ahead of me and I knew that was the right group for the finish."

Those were the words of Astana's Lars Boom after winning stage one at the Post Danmark Rundt on Tuesday. Boom, from the Netherlands, soloed to victory out of a late-race 6-man breakaway with four Danes and one rider from Italy just as a heavy rain began to fall in the Jutland region of western Denmark .

Tuesday's stage began in a festive village central square and turned south along the North Sea coast before coming inland to a mostly flat and windless finish in warm but rainy weather. Boom attacked his fellow escapees in the final 3km, following smartly as other riders went too early and quickly lost energy on the technical finishing circuit around Holstebro, home of Astana Pro Team sponsor Ceramic Speed.

Astana Pro Team rider Valerio Agnoli worked in the early breakaway to reduce pressure on his teammates under mostly dry skies before the peloton caught him and his breakaway before the finishing circuits.

With this victory Boom takes the leader's yellow jersey and also the blue points leader jersey.

"Of course I am very happy to win. I haven't won for a long time. I am happy that I handled the finale so well," he told CyclingQuotes at the finish.

"A few turns before the roundabout I thought I could make a move. And they couldn't follow me so...

"I just thought: keep going, keep going, keep going. You need this win. And I thought about my wife and my daughter who were watching the race on television."

Wednesday's 235km stage will also see some rain, but weather should be dry and sunny by the finish in Aarhus.