Russell Downing produced a storming late kick to win the final stage of the Tour de Wallonie, and also secured the overall victory in the process.

The Yorkshireman was guided into position brilliantly by Mathew Hayman as the peloton hurtled into Lontzen and then powered along the closing straight to take a narrow sprint win ahead of Stefan van Dijk (Verandas Willems).

That performance catapulted Downing from fifth to first in the general classification and ensured he ended the race with a two-second advantage over Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil). Laurent Mangel (Saur-Sojasun) was a further second adrift in third.

The result was Downing’s second victory of the season and was all the more impressive given the fact that only three Team Sky riders completed the race.

After the race sports director Steven de Jongh said: “It’s a super result and we couldn’t have asked for any more.

“It was unfortunate to see Kurt have to pull out at the start of the day but we’re absolutely delighted with the way things turned out with Russell. He trained really hard in the weeks leading up to the race and this is his reward. Hopefully now he will go from strength-to-strength in the weeks to come.”