On a stage reminiscent of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège spring Classic Luis León Sánchez (Blanco) put his recent problems behind him as he soloed to victory in the final stage of the 2013 Tour of Belgium in Banneux.

Sánchez, who had been left out of his team’s race roster for the season prior to the Belgian stage race owing to unsettled accusations of links to the 2006 Operación Puerto doping scandal, succeeded in escaping from a breakaway group with just over 40km to go, and keep the chasing group consisting of World champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing), Andreas Klöden (RadioShack-Leopard), Francesco Gavazzi (Astana) and race leader Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) at arm’s length.

Eventually Gavazzi would win the sprint for second, 27 seconds behind Sánchez, ahead of Gilbert, Klöden and Martin, but Martin had done enough to safeguard his second straight overall victory in the race thanks to the lead he had built up in the stage three time trial.

Earlier during the stage, at the halfway point, an eleven-man group was two minutes clear as Omega Pharma-Quick Step controlled the peloton behind. The lead of the breakaway group was to increase to almost two and a half minutes after 90km, before Martin’s team brought it back down to two minutes with 72km to go.

Of the 11 fortune seekers, Van Avermaet (BMC) was clearly the danger man, just 1’50” behind Martin in the general classification, and so the BMC Racing rider was in fact virtual race leader at this point. Since another rider in the breakaway group, De Vreese (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), was also threatening second place Tom Dumoulin’s young rider jersey, the Argos-Shimano team came forward to help and began to shut down and eventually reel in the break more quickly.

Sánchez attacked over the top of the Côte de Banneaux climb; with 40km to go, he was 23 seconds clear but, as he crossed the finish line to start the final 35.9km loop, had only managed to open his advantage to 26 seconds.

With 25km to go Sánchez led by 57 seconds as he approached the Côte de la Redoute for the third and final time.

Sánchez’ lead was down to just 38 seconds as the peloton hit the climb behind him but, as Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Niki Terpstra led the bunch up the steep climb, he was careful not to put Martin into difficulty again. Despite several riders being dropped by the Netherlands champion’s pace, the gap to the lone leader remained static for most of the way up.

On the steepest part, however, Gilbert launched an attack, and was alone as he rode over the top. This cut Sánchez’ lead to just 19 seconds, but Martin, sensing overall victory, was following the World champion just a few seconds behind him, with Gavazzi and Klöden on his wheel. The four riders soon came together, with Martin immediately pushing on in pursuit of Sánchez.

Inside the final two kilometres Sánchez was still 46 seconds clear of the pursuing pack, and seemingly safely on his way to stage victory. With that current gap Martin was still safe in the race lead and certain of overall victory, however, as the German allowed the others to do the chasing.

Sánchez’ escape was good enough to elevate him up to second place overall with Gilbert climbing to third.

Result stage 5:
1. Luis León Sánchez, Blanco Pro Cycling
2. Francesco Gavazzi, Team Astana 27”
3. Philippe Gilbert, BMC Racing Team
4. Andreas Klöden, RadioShack-Leopard
5. Tony Martin, Omega Pharma-Quick Step
6. Jürgen Roelandts, Lotto-Belisol 47”
7. Jérôme Baugnies, To Win - Josan Cycling Team 1’13”
8. Marcel Meisen, BKCP-Powerplus 1’16”
9. Arashiro, Team Europcar 1’17”
10. Sergey Lagutin, Vacansoleil-DCM

Final overall standings:
1. Tony Martin, Omega Pharma-Quick Step
2. Luis León Sánchez, Blanco Pro Cycling, 36”
3. Philippe Gilbert, BMC Racing Team 51”
4. Andreas Klöden, RadioShack-Leopard 1’18”
5. Tom Dumoulin, Argos-Shimano 1’30”
6. Francesco Gavazzi, Team Astana 1’36”
7. Kristoff Vandewalle, Omega Pharma-Quick Step 1’43”
8. Jürgen Roelandts, Lotto-Belisol 1’44”
9. Niki Terpstra, Omega Pharma-Quick Step 1’49”
10. Alexey Tsatevitch, Katusha Team 2’06”