Martens prevails at Grand Prix de Wallonie

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Germany’s Paul Martens (Rabobank) won a sprint against controversial cyclist Riccardo Ricco (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) and current world champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) to claim victory at Grand Prix de Wallonie. The trio finished just five seconds ahead of Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasen) and Giovanni Visconti (ISD-Neri).

“The final was very tough,” Martens told nieuwsblad.be. “Vacansoleil gave everything, but I knew that the last turn before the line was very technical and decisive. There were three of us going for victory and my main competitor was a very explosive Ricco. A good feel of the last corner was the secret to winning.”

The day’s main break included Grégory Habeaux (Verandas Willes), Bauke Mollema (Rabobank), Reinier Honig (Acqua & Sapone) and Jean-Marc Marino (Saur – Sojasun), who were caught with 20 kilometres remaining. A counter attack that included Martens’ team-mate Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank) tried its luck, before being brought back as the race fell apart under the pressure from Martens, Ricco and Evans.