Gaviria wins Paris-Tours with late attack

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Fernando Gaviria (Etixx-QuickStep) won Paris-Tours with a surprise late attack in the final 500 metres that allowed him to hold off the big-name sprinters and take arguably the most prestigious victory of his young career without waiting for the sprint finish. His victory completed a perfect day for the Etixx-QuickStep team after their victory in the men's team time trial at the UCI Road World Championships.

"This is the most beautiful win of my career," he said. "I knew how important and big this race was; I know its history, and this motivated me to get the victory today. It was tough and fast today, but I was fresh in the finale, when I decided to take advantage of a corner which slowed down the peloton before the last straight."  

As the riders jostled for position inside the final kilometre on the famous Avenue de Grammont, Gaviria jumped to his right away from the bunch and surged down the barriers. He quickly got a gap and kept going with his arms on the hoods, as if he was trying to take a lap on the track in an Omnium event.

He nervously looked back but had a sufficient lead that allowed him to ease up before the line, kiss his bracelet in a kind of dedication and celebrate victory with his arms open.

"As soon as I attacked, I went full gas to the line and managed to hold the pack at bay," he said. "I am very happy and I want to thank the team for the support I got. It was my final race of the year in this kit and this makes the success very special. Also, to get news that the team won the team time trial world title gives me even more satisfaction."

The Lotto Soudal and Katusha teams failed to close the gap and the other sprinters came too late to catch the Colombian. Arnaud Demare (FDJ) finished second with Jonas Van Genechten (IAM Cycling) third. They were caught in the photographs of Gaviria celebrating but were stunned by the 22-year-old Colombian's late move.

Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) was in the mix after using his sprint to move up in the final 300 metres but he then eased up before the line finishing sixth, one place ahead of Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis).

252km covered at 47km/h

Race organiser ASO had managed to attract a star-studded field in the last race for the sprinters and world championship contenders. They increased the distance of the 2016 race to 252km and removed many of the hills in the final 20 kilometres to make it the perfect test of form before riders travelled to Doha for next Sunday's World Championships road race.

Gaviria, Cavendish, Tom Boonen, Caleb Ewan, Sam Bennett, Elia Viviani and Arnaud Démare were all on the start and keen to test their form only a week out from the big final goal of the season.

The weather was warm with a slight tailwind from the start in the Loire valley, making for a fast race and a 47km/h average race speed.

Seven riders bravely formed the early break, with Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin), Arnaud Gérard (Fortuneo Vital Concept), Floris Gerts (BMC), Pirmin Lang (IAM Cycling), Kevin Lebreton (Armée de Terre), Brian Van Goethem (Roompot-Orange) and Maarten Wynants (LottoNL-Jumbo) going deep one last time this season.

They opened a gap but the sprinter's team kept them pegged at three minutes indicating their intentions. They were eventually reeled in with 15km to race.

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) was part of several late attacks as he tested his form after a long day in the saddle. But with a flatter finale, the sprinters were always going to dominate affairs and they did. Another attack by Sergey Lagutin (Katusha) and Bert De Backer (Giant-Alpecin) was caught with seven kilometres to go, as the Cofidis team for Bouhanni, FDJ for Démare and Team Sky for Viviani kept the pace high and marshalled the peloton.

After some late corners and the red kite, Team Sky hit out early, with debutant Owain Doull leading Viviani. However it was far too early for the Italian to open his sprint and so he sat up and the pack reshuffled. Just after, as the pace dipped, Gaviria took his chance, seemingly based on instinct rather than tactics.

Lesser riders would have quickly been swept up, but Gaviria has a track rider's acceleration and a sprinter's speed, allowing him to hold off the chasers.

He will lead the Colombian team next Sunday and has suddenly become a dangerous rival for the bigger nations and their team leaders.

"In Doha it's going to be a completely different story, and the race will be made even more difficult by the heat, but I'm going there confident, relaxed and in good condition," Gaviria said. "So we'll see what will happen."

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