Belgian Thomas De Gendt won the first stage of the 2011 Paris-Nice stage race Sunday, comfortably beating Frenchman Jeremy Roy by seven seconds after a late breakaway.

The 24-year-old Team Vaconsoleil rider completed the 95.8-mile course that looped around the outskirts of Paris - starting and ending in Houdan - in 4 hours, 4 minutes, 53 seconds.

Castelli-sponsored Team Garmin-Cervelo rider Heinrich Haussler finished 10 seconds behind in third place.

De Gendt, Roy and Germany's Jens Voigt broke away together in the last 18 miles. The chasing pack gained ground near the end, but could not close the gap. Team Leopard-Trek's Voigt finished fourth.

De Gendt had finished second on the fourth stage of the 2011 Tour Down Under in Australia back in January.

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