Gilbert takes overall victory at Tour of Beijing

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Philippe Gilbert (BMC) secured overall victory at the Tour of Beijing after the final stage around the Bird's Nest Piazza finished in a bunch sprint.

Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) won the final high-speed sprint after the peloton caught the day's breakaway pair of Laurent Mangel (FDJ.fr) and Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Belisol) inside the final kilometre.

The sprinters' teams tried to lead out the peloton but the speed was too high for one team to take control. Modolo was perfectly placed and opened his sprint with two hundred metres to go. The other sprinters came up on his right but Modolo hung on to win by a less than half a wheel.

Greg Henderson (Lotto Belisol) was a close second, with Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) taking third. Tyler Farrar’s fourth place was enough to see him snatch victory in the green jersey points competition from Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano), who could only take sixth on the stage.

Gilbert set up overall victory by winning stage two and then defended his race lead on the climb to the finish at Mentougou Miaofeng Mountain on Monday. He dug deep to finish just two seconds behind stage winner Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) and so held onto a three-second lead. With all the riders finishing in the same time on the final stage, Martin finished second overall at three seconds, with Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Orica-GreenEdge) third at nine seconds.

Gilbert is the fourth and final winner of the Tour of Beijing after Tony Martin (2011 and 2012) and Benat Intxausti. The WorldTour race will not be held in 2015.

“Yesterday was a very big effort for me. On a climb of 10km I usually suffer a lot but I was there and so I'm very happy,” Gilbert said.

“It was still a stressful last stage because I only had a three-second advantage. I had to be ready for a gap. I took the next to last corner in a good position but then I didn't take any further risks and it was ok.”

Gilbert was at the forefront of the rider protests about racing in poor air conditions but was diplomatic after winning the race.

“It's been a great experience and I'm glad that my name is on this palmares,” he said. “It's special to finish here with these monuments around us. It's nice to have a chance to ride in a place like this.”

Modolo ends his season on a high

The 117km final stage started in Tiananmen Square with teams posing for end of season photographs and ended with laps of the Bird's Nest Piazza near the stunning Olympic stadium.

Laurent Mangel (FDJ.fr) and Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Belisol) jumped away almost immediately, with Mangel looking to end his professional career with a day of glory and Van der Sande looking to secure his future. They opened a two-minute gap early in the stage but then the peloton eased and the gap extended to over three minutes as the finishing circuits ticked down. It was still over two minutes with only less than two laps to go and the breakaway pair gave it everything to try and surprise the peloton. They still had a lead of a minute as the bell rang for the last lap but the peloton was now chasing hard with riders giving their all and peeling off.

The catch was made inside the final kilometre after some strong efforts by Garmin-Sharp, Team Sky Belkin and Lampre-Merida. Modolo was placed second wheel after the final left turn and then opened up his sprint as others fought for position, and they left it too late to catch the Italian before the line.

It was Modolo's eighth win of the season but his first since the Tour de Suisse in June. “I needed this win,” he said.

“I won in Suisse but then I had bad Tour de France and crashed at the Eneco Tour and struggled. I've been at home training for a month and so to win is hugely satisfying for me and for the team who helped me here.

“We always thought we'd catch the breakaway. It was close but it’s always difficult for two guys to stay away. We tried to force the other teams to work because the team worked a lot for Rui Costa during the race. I had three guys working for me but they gave me a good lead out.”

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