Bouhanni wins final stage of Circuit Franco-Belge

Jürgen Roelandts of Lotto Belisol celebrated a start-to-finish overall win in the Circuit Franco-Belge, as Nacer Bouhanni of FDJ-Big Mat won the mass sprint of the final stage. Adam Blythe of BMC Racing Team was second on the day, and Roelandts third, which was enough to give him the overall title.

Juan Antonio Flecha of Sky was second overall at 17 seconds down, and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck of Omega Pharma-QuickStep third at 19 seconds.

A group of 11 riders tried to get away near the end and challenge Roelandts' narrow lead, but th epeloton did not let them get away. French national champion Bouhanni, who had finished second in the previous two stages, finally got his win.

Roelandts had won the first stage and never relinquished the lead. He also won a stage at the Tour of Luxembourg this year and was third overall in the Ster ZLM Toer.

The victory tops off a remarkable year for the 27-year-old Belgian. He suffered a fractured cervical vertebra in a crash t the first stage of the Tour Down Under in January, and did not resume racing again until the Tour of Belgium the end of May.

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