Van Avermaet breaks his Flanders duck – sort of

Belgian wins virtual shorter race after the real thing was cancelled

- Jonny Long

He might have never won the real thing despite multiple attempts but Greg Van Avermaet took a convincing win in the virtual Tour of Flanders, distancing his rivals with 12km remaining to take a solo victory.

Oliver Naesen (Ag2r La Mondiale) finished second behind the CCC rider with Nicolas Roche (Sunweb) in third, taking the last step on the podium.

The real race was one of many cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic but the final 32km of the real Tour of Flanders route were raced over 43 minutes on the Bkool indoor training platform and featured the iconic climbs of the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg.