Tom Boonen and Greg Van Avermaet finished their preparations for the Worlds in Qatar yesterday at Paris-Tours. The Belgian leaders will be traveling to the Middle East with a good feeling. "To stay healthy has in recent weeks has been the most important," Van Avermaet tells Sporza.

Tom Boonen was 21st on the Avenue de Grammont but had  a smile on the face thanks to the victory of his team mate Fernando Gaviria. "That was an impressive performance," Boonen said about the Colombian.

"Fernando is a class act and he is currently in good shape. Of course he belongs to the group of contenders for the Worlds. When Fernando has a good day, he can win a lot of races."

Boonen did not get the victory, but was satisfied in Tours. "I'm glad I didn’t crash and the feeling in my legs is good.

"I'm glad we can finally travel to Qatar on Tuesday. It will be important to acclimatize. Now it’s wait and see how the race will evolve and much will depend on the wind. But it is a treacherous course where a lot can happen."

Greg Van Avermaet could test his legs in Paris-Tours. 

"This was a good workout," said the Olympic champion, “just as I expected it to be."

On the only climb in the final Van Avermaet attacked. "I tried to attack, even though I realized that it was a lost cause. And so it turned out. I did not get away.

"The important thing is that I felt good during the race. To stay healthy has been the most important in recent weeks. I am happy and now I can travel unscathed to Qatar.

"Now we need to recover well and on Wednesday we will have one last good workout of 5 to 6 hours in Qatar. I have seen that temperatures of around 35 degrees are forecasted. It will be difficult."