Van Avermaet wins Tour de Luxembourg

Greg Van Avermaet secured the overall victory at the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg on Sunday, winning the final stage to seal his win in the short stage race.

The BMC team chased down the break of the 174.6km stage and stopped a counter-attack on the three laps of the 3.8km finishing circuit, which included a category-one climb up the Pabeierbierg.

Just two riders remained in front as the final bell rang and BMC brought the race back together under the flamme rouge.

The riders headed onto the final climb at full speed with Van Avermaet tucked on the wheel of teammate Loïc Vliegen and then began his sprint with 150 metres to go, gaining enough of a gap to celebrate his double win as he hit the line. Alex Kirsch (WB-Veranclassic) was second and Xandro Meurisse (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) was third.

Van Avermaet finished 29 seconds ahead of Meurisse in the final overall classification, with Anthony Perez (Cofidis) third at 36 seconds.

It was Van Avermaet first race since his break following his hugely successful spring Classics campaign.

"It's always good to start with a win again. This might not be a UCI WorldTour race but every victory counts, and it is always good to get into this mindset,” Van Avermaet said.

"When I came into this race, I was just thinking about improving my form and being a little bit better every day so, I was surprised when I was second in the prologue. From there, the expectation to do well came from me. Every day was a parcours suited to me, so it became easier and easier to take a victory and I am really happy to win."

"I felt a little bit of pressure because I really wanted to win especially after the effort of all the guys. You have to prove that you are the leader of your team by finishing off the job. It was a good experience. I think today was a better climb for me. Yesterday was a little bit longer, and I didn't time my sprint as well as I did today. It was much better today. It was a stage more suited to puncheur like me but, I have to say, the team did a really good job to bring me where I wanted to be."

Van Avermaet is due to ride the Tour de Suisse to polish his form for the Tour de France, which will lay the foundations for the second part of his season.

"The main goal for me is winning a stage in the Tour de France, and that is the most important thing," he said of his goals for the rest of the season."

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