Philippe Gilbert escaped to win in the 191.2 kilometer stage 3 of the 2011 Eneco Tour by attacking on the penultimate climb of the day in typical fashion for the Belgian. His attack also resulted in him taking the overall race lead from Team BMC Racing's Taylor Phinney.

Team Lampre's Grega Bole finished 2nd in today's stage and Ben Hermans of Team RadioShack took third.

Phinney conceded 35 seconds, finished 21st and slid to eighth overall.

Phinney said hasn't lost confidence after slipping out of the leader's jersey for the first time since winning Monday's Eneco Tour prologue.

"I'm definitely confident in my time trial ability," the reigning Under 23 world time trial champion said and added "It was disappointing to lose my lead, but the team did a good job looking after me. When it came down to crunch time, I just didn't have it. But I definitely feel like I can take time back. I'm really motivated to win the stage tomorrow."