Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) ended his season in the best possible way as he came out on top in Nationale Sluitingsprijs, the final road race on the European calendar. In a very close bunch sprint, he narrowly held off Tom Van Asbroeck (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal) which was enough to win the race and secure the overall victory in the UCI Europe Tour.

The 2015 season has been a testing one for Nacer Bouhanni. After signing a contract with Cofidis and gathering a strong lead-out train to support him, he was destined for a great year but a number of crashes have ruined his opportunities.

After a slow start, he was on track when he won two stages in the Dauphiné but crashes at the French championships, the Tour de France, the Vuelta a Espana and the Worlds made it impossible for him to pay back his team for their huge amount of work. Most recently, it seemed that he would end the season on a bad note when he missed the first echelon in Paris-Tours where he was the big favourite.

However, Bouhanni had one chance to take a major win in his season. His second place in Paris-Bourges had elevated him into the leader in the UCI Europe Tour. He had hoped to seal the victory in Tours but after he missed out on the points in his home race, he had to do today’s final European road race, Nationale Suitingsprijs, to defend his 16-point lead of Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen).

A troubled season ended in the best possible way for the fast Frenchman as he not only secured the Europe Tour win in Belgium. In a photo finish, he held off Tom Van Asbroeck and Jens Debusschere when the race came down to the expected bunch sprint and so added another win to his palmares on the final day of racing.

"You can't finish your season in a better way than with a victory," he told Het Nieuwsblad. "Besides, I'm now sure of the overall victory in the UCI Europe Tour. That was an objective.

"Everything went smoothly today. The teammates made ​​sure that no one could get there way in the final kilometers.Then I could finish it off in a bunch sprint.