TOURS, France, Oct 9, 2011 (AFP) – Belgian rider Greg Van Avermaet won a
sprint finish to claim the Paris-Tours cycling classic here on Sunday.

The BMC rider edged Italian Marco Marcato of Vacansoleil with Denmark’s
Kasper Klostergaard-Larsen of Saxo Bank finishing third after the 230.5km race.

Pre-race favorites including Britain’s recently-crowned world champion
Mark Cavendish and Belgian Philippe Gilbert, winner here in 2008 and 2009,
lost out after becoming boxed in at the back of the peloton.

The 26-year-old Van Avermaet, who won a stage of the 2008 Tour of Spain,
becomes the 40th Belgian to win the race which goes back 105 years.

“The race nerves were jangling from the start. The team was running
smoothly so we decided to try something after the feeding station,” said Van
Avermaet.

“Everyone really worked hard for (Alessandro) Ballan, for (Taylor) Phinney
and for me. We were the only team which wanted to control the race.

“I’ve come close to winning in a few classics this season but there’s only
one place which counts and that’s first.

“To win a classic such as this is very special and a great step forward for
my career. It will give me a big confidence boost for next season.”

Van Avermaet added: “It’s a great year for the Belgians and we have to make
the most of it. We have good riders behind Philippe (Gilbert).”

With Gilbert – who swept this year’s three Ardennes classics, and Thor
Hushovd set to reinforce his team in 2012 Van Avermaet said: “We shall have a
very strong team next year.

Van Avermaet and Marcato broke free from a group of 21 riders behind
France’s Arnaud Gerard, who launched his attack 15km from the line.

The pair left FDJ rider Gerard at the base of the Epan climb with 7km to go.

They took advantage of disorganization among their challengers with Van
Avermaet giving Marcato no chance as the Italian struggled with leg cramp in
the final sprint.

1. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) BMC 5hr 21min 43sec (average: 42.988 km/h), 2.
Marco Marcato (ITA) at 02sec, 3. Kasper Klostergaard-Larsen (DEN) 15, 4. Ian
Stannard (GBR) same time, 5. Laszlo Bodrogi (FRA) s.t., 6. Mickael Delage
(FRA) at 22sec, 7. Geoffroy Lequatre (FRA) s.t., 8. Stuart O’Grady (AUS) s.t.,
9. Roy Curvers (NED) s.t., 10. Arnaud Gerard (FRA) s.t., 11. John Degenkolb
(GER) 48, 12. Mathew Hayman (AUS) s.t., 13. David Boucher (FRA) s.t., 14.
Maarten Tjallinghii (NED) s.t., 15. Damien Gaudin (FRA) s.t.
Selected:
19. Robbie McEwen (AUS) at 1min 23sec, 20. Oscar Freire (ESP) s.t., 27.
Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) s.t., 34. Romain Feillu (FRA) s.t., 35. Sylvain
Chavanel (FRA) s.t., 42. Mark Cavendish (GBR) s.t., 67. Philippe Gilbert (BEL)
at 1min 46sec

Photo: Corvos