Belgium's Rik Verbrugghe (Quick Step) won the prologue of the Tour of Benelux on Wednesday.

Spain's Carlos Barredo (Liberty Seguros) was second with Dutch rider Servais Knaven (Quick Step) in third.

Verbrugghe covered the 5.7km course around Malines, Belgium, in 6 minutes and 45.11 seconds with Barredo a second further back and Knaven two off the pace.

"It was a good prologue for me," Verbrugghe told Agence France Presse.

Thursday’s first stage of the eight-day ProTour race through Belgium and Holland will cover 189km from Geel to Mierlo in the Netherlands. The opening three stages are relatively flat, but the so- fourth, from Landgraaf, Holland to Verviers, Belgium, hits nine climbs in a course similar to Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

The next day’s stage, 180km from Verviers to Hasselt, also tackles a string of short, but steep climbs that are sure to put the hurt on the peloton.

Still, five of the seven stages favor the sprinters, and there’s no shortage of them at the start house, including Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo), Erik Zabel (T-Mobile), Max Van Heeswijk (Discovery Channel) and Jan Kirsipuu (Credit Agricole). Tom Boonen (Quick Step) will not race.

Other big names in the race include Paris-Nice winner Bobby Julich (CSC), who is expected to ride strongly after a solid performance in July’s Tour de France; Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner); Michael Boogerd and Erik Dekker (Rabobank); and Nick Nuyens (Davitamon-Lotto).

Depending on how the race unfolds, the 26.3km final time trial in Etten-Leur, Holland, could well decide the winner. –VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood and Agence France Presse contributed to this report.

Results
1. Rik Verbrugghe (B), Quick Step, 6:45.11
2. Carlos Barredo (Sp), Liberty Seguros, at 0:01
3. Servais Knaven (Ned), Quick Step, at 0:02
4. Uwe Peschel (G), Gerolsteiner, same time
5. Stijn Devolder (B), Discovery Channel, s.t.,
6. Mirco Lorenzetto (I), Domina Vacanze, s.t.
7. Benoit Joachim (Lux), Discovery Channel, s.t.
8. Bram Schmitz (Ned), T-Mobile, at 0:03
9. Marc Wauters (B), Rabobank, s.t.
10. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (B), Discovery Channel, s.t.