Gent-Wevelgem 2017: Greg Van Avermaet takes an historic triple win

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) is going to need an extra shelf in his trophy cabinet with his history-making trio of victories at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Harelbeke and now Gent-Wevelgem. Indeed, he’s the first man to take all three in the same season since 1981. With the peloton bearing down, the Olympic Champion held off Orica-Scott’s Jens Keukeleire in a two-up sprint, after a nerve-jangling run to the line. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished a disgruntled third after being part of the winning move of the day.
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Volta a Catalunya 2017: Valverde crushes competition

There was a mouthwatering array of talent, both established stars and up-and-comers, to contest the 97th edition of the Volta a Catalunya, which featured some fine racing along with time-penalties, trolling, a snow-shortened stage, echelons, Merckx-like time gaps and over 40 riders outside the time limit. Despite this, Alejandro Valverde sensationally soloed to victory in Friday’s queen stage for the overall lead and won the final stage to take his second title, ahead of this and last year’s runner-up, Alberto Contador, and his third-placed Movistar teammate Marc Soler.

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