Blythe wins in Belgium

Britain’s Adam Blythe ended his first full season with the Omega Pharma-Lotto team with a victory at the Prix de clôture de Putte-Kapellen, the last race of the season on the Belgian calendar.

Blythe won two stages and the overall classification at last week’s Circuit Franco Belge. He is now the second most successful rider in the Omega Pharma-Lotto team after leader Philippe Gilbert, who has five wins to his credit.

Blythe beat Wouter Weylandt (QuickStep) and Stefan van Dijck (Verandas Willems) with another impressive sprint finish.

"If only the season could last a little longer for me," Blythe joked after his win. "No seriously, enough is enough. This victory is a nice end to a successful season."

The race was also Tom Boonen’s final race of a troubled 2010 season. The Quick Step team leader has opted not to ride the Giro del Piemonte on Thursday and will now focus on completing his rehabilitation treatment on his knee.

Six rider break

The 183km Prix de clôture de Putte-Kapellen was shaped by a six-rider move that formed early in the race.

Nick Nuyens (Rabobank), Thomas De Gendt (Topsport Vlaanderen), Rob Goris (Palmans-Cras), Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) David Boucher (Landbouwkrediet) and Australia’s Mitchel Docker (Skil-Shimano) were all in there, although Goris had a mechanical problem and was disqualified for taking an illegal tow back to the break.

The remaining five riders opened a three-minute lead and stayed together until the final two laps of the 16.69km circuit. De Gendt tried a lone move with two laps to go but was caught as the peloton closed in on the break.

The gap was just 40 seconds with one lap to go, several late attacks were pulled back and then Blythe produced another perfect sprint to end his season on high.

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