Koos Moerenhout wins stage at Eneco Tour; Tony Martin takes over lead

Rabobank’s Koos Moerenhout won the third stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux on Friday, out-sprinting his breakaway companion Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) who earned the overall lead in the week-long stage race.

The 36-year-old Moerenhout attacked 20 kilometers from the finish as the peloton was covering a large 30km closing circuit around Ronse in Belgium. While Martin was able to stay with the Dutch rider’s attack, many of the pre-race favorites, including Belgian Stijn Devolder and Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen and overnight race leader Svein Tuft (Garmin-Transitions), who had held the lead since the prologue.

Martin said he was pleased the day’s route covered some tough terrain featuring roads used in the Tour of Flanders.

“I felt better and better each ascent. It is a nice addition to get the leader’s jersey and the team and I will do what we can to hold it through to the end,” said Martin, 25.

Saturday’s fourth stage covers 214km between St. Lievens-Houtem in Belgium and Roermond in the Netherlands.