With a clever attack in the final kilometre, Mark Renshaw has secured himself of the first Eneco Tour leader's jersey. The Australian Belkin Pro Cycling Team rider saw the complete peloton keeping both eyes on his teammate Theo Bos and decided this was his opportunity. Under the red flag he attacked and thousand metres further down the road he arrived solo at the line in Ardooie.

"The initial plan was to ride for Theo," Renshaw stated afterwards. "In the final, he was right in my wheel properly, but with still a long way to go it was just the two of us. He then opened up a small gap, I think on purpose, and that was crucial for me to win. I have to thank Theo for that.”

Renshaw strongly held on to his lead despite the fact that he was on his own for more than a kilometre. 

"I went as fast as I could through the last couple of corners; I took some risks. Merijn Zeeman shouted in my ear that I needed to give one hundred per cent and that’s what I did. I’m pretty good at keeping a high speed over a longer distance. In the last two hundred metres I did not look back once and luckily I saw nobody pass me.”

Thanks to his win Renshaw is the first leader of the 2013 Eneco Tour. He will start Tuesday’s stage in white, but that won’t change the team tactics. “Tomorrow we will ride for Theo again. He simply is our fastest guy. Lars Boom and Wilco Kelderman are still our GC guys.”