Top Sports' Jelle Wallays won the opening stage of the World Ports Classic.
The opening stage of this two stage race run by Tour De France organisers ASO, was a 165km stage from Antwerp to Rotterdam and saw Omega Pharma Quick Step's Pettachi beat Andrei Greipel of Lotto Belisol and Mark Renshaw who had a camera on his bike before Van Bilsen, Wallays, Rathe, Honig and Van Melsen broke away.
Having passed the cobblestones section at Galder, their lead of 3.20 dropped slightly to 2.45 as the leaders were stopped at a bridge crossing at Moerdijk with 70.2kms to go.
Six kilometres and there was a brief split amongst the chasers when three took a wrong turn. They soon rejoined but had lost even more time to the peloton, some of whom also took the wrong route.
The second sprint came at Helwijk with 45kms to go and Kenny Van Bilsen took it ahead of Honig.
The gap went out to 4.01 as the peloton passed the wind farms on the outskirts of Rotterdam. There was 24kms to go, so Jelle Wallays decided to go off on his own as the rest of the escapers were swept up by a peloton which had ramped up the pace.
Wallays still had a lead of over a minute as the riders went past Feyenoord's stadium with 5kms to go. Omega Pharma Quick Step were on the front on roads which have hosted two Tour De France Grand Departs.
But in front of big crowds, the Topsport rider was not to be denied and Wallays won in 3,32,32, twenty eight seconds ahead of Andrei Greipel who was second ahead of Petacchi, Van Hummel and Cantwell.
The second stage is a 191km return journey from Rotterdam back to Antwerp.