Jos Van Emden has been riding solidly in the final part of the season. Today he was the highest finisher for Belkin in the final classic, Paris-Tours.

Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM rider Jos van Emden placed 10th in Paris -Tours behind winner Jelle Wallays (Top sport Vlaanderen-Baloise). After 238 kilometers in Tours, the Belgian beat France's Thomas Voeckler in the sprint. 

The classic Paris-Tours is a race with a great history that at times, sees the peloton misjudge an early break. 

"Paris-Tours is a strange race. You cannot put a label on it and today, it happened again, as so often in the past," said Sports Director Erik Dekker. "In the peloton, they thought it would be a sprint, but Giant- Shimano and FDJ miscalculated the strength still in the leading group." 
 

Belkin team started with seven motivated riders in the last race of the season. Only Jetse Bol has one race left, the rest of the team can start to rest . 

"It's always difficult to get eight motivated riders in Paris-Tours. We had seven at the start. Bol leaves this week to Hainan, China, for his last race of this season," Dekker continued. "Sep Vanmarcke and Jos van Emden wanted to be in the final, and they did. Jos finished 10th after a late escape with Sep didn’t work out. After that Sep helped Jos in the last kilometres ." 

Jos van Emden thus played a key role in the French classic. His season ends well after he fell with fractures to the jaw and elbow in September. 

"Sep helped me in the last kilometre. I just could not follow the rear wheel of Greg van Avermaet on the climb. But I felt good and sprinted to a tenth place, and that to me is a very good performance," said Van Emden. 
 

"A good finish to the season often means that you start the next season good," said Dekker. "It's nice to see that at the end of the year Jos is still that motivated. That also applies to Sep Vanmarcke. Before the race, he didn’t felt 100%, but if you do the opposite in the race as he did in Binche, then you are a very good rider. His base level is so high that he can compete with the best of the world. The 2014 season is for the most of us over. Only one race is left in Hainan, and then we can focus on next year."