World champion Tom Boonen won a sprint finish to take the third stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux on Saturday ahead of Discovery’s Max Van Heeswijk and Australian Baden Cooke (UniBet).

Quick Step team leader Boonen, who also won Thursday's first stage, extends his overall lead to an 11-second advantage over Liquigas’s Manuel Quinziato, who won on Friday.

Boonen later revealed that he had initially set out to set-up victory bids for two of his teammates.

"I decided to lead out the sprint for my teammates Wouter Weylandt and Steven De Jongh," explained Boonen after the 185km stage. "Everything was going as planned until Steven was blocked (by Baden Cooke), so I went for it myself."

Gorka Gonzalez made most of the early running with the Euskaltel rider building up a 10-second advance before being caught by Dutchman Rik Reinerink and then Belgian duo Bert Roesems and Erwin Thijs.

The four riders held a five-minute advantage before the peloton reacted mid-race, finally catching up 15km from the line.

Boonen, more known for his sprinting and one-day classic exploits than for winning stage races, admitted he faces a battle in Sunday's 16.1km time-trial at Landgraaf in the Netherlands, as he lays the groundwork for his challenge at the world championships in Salzburg, Austria late September.

"It's clear that against the time-trial specialists I'll lose my jersey on this stage but my aim above all this week is to prepare for the world championships," added Boonen.