Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) won the opening time trial at the Baloise Belgium Tour, and secured the event's first leader's jersey in Beringen.
The Norwegian time trial champion covered the 12km course in a winning time of 13:24, beating runner-up Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) by two seconds and third-placed Rune Herregodts (Intermarché-Wanty) by 10 seconds.
Wærenskjold now leads the overall classification ahead of Vacek and Herregodts as the race heads into stage 2's 184km race from Merelbeke to Knokke-Heist on Thursday.
Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek) set the fastest early time with a 13:42 on the 12km individual time trial in Beringen. His time lasted until Alex Aranburu (Movistar) put in a surprising ride to go a second quicker.
He, too, was eclipsed when Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) came through much faster in 13:26.48.
The race was neutralised due to a medical emergency on the course, delaying the start of the rest of the field.
When racing resumed, Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X) powered to the fastest time two seconds faster, a winning time that saw him take the stage and the overall race lead.
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