This Sunday, Greg van Avermaet showed during the World Championship road race that he was in the form of his life. Unfortunately, this was not enough to hang a spot on the podium. He finished fifth in the sprint for the silver medal, won by the Australian Simon Gerrans (Orica GreenEDGE Cycling Team). The title was won by the Polish Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).

"It is a shame, the victory was out of reach, but I wished the podium", the Belgian rider told DH.net. The leader of BMC Racing Team praised the Belgian selection : "I think we have perfectly rolled. We were present in every key moment. On the last lap, everyone came to help Phil (Gilbert) and me on the final climb. We were the only country with two riders in the final. Gilbert did a great job for me on the descent to try to reach Kwiatkowski and I could save myself for the sprint. We were all given in order to catch him, but he was too strong. Therefore had to sprint for the places of honor", explain Van Avermaet.

Finally, he finished in fifth place : "Alejandro Valverde contented myself up to 200 meters from the line and I could not sprint like I wanted to. It’s a shame as it cost me the podium. I expected better", said he, disappointed.