Greg Van Avermaet

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Greg Van Avermaet
File:Greg Van Avermaet.JPG
Van Avermaet in 2011
Personal information
Full name Greg Van Avermaet
Nickname Avi
Born (1985-05-17) 17 May 1985 (age 39)
Lokeren, Belgium
Height Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
Weight 74 kg (163 lb)
Team information
Current team BMC Racing Team
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type Classics specialist
Professional team(s)
2006 Bodysol–Win for Life–Jong Vlaanderen
2007–2010 Predictor–Lotto
2011– BMC Racing Team
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
1 individual stage (2015)
1 TTT (2015)
Vuelta a España
Points classification (2008)
1 individual stage (2008)

Stage races

Tour of Belgium (2015)
Tour de Wallonie (2011, 2013)

One-day races and Classics

Paris–Tours (2011)
Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen (2007)
Infobox last updated on
31 May 2015

Greg Van Avermaet (born 17 May 1985) is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for UCI ProTeam BMC Racing Team.[1]

Career

He started cycle racing at the age of 19, having previously played football as a goalkeeper.[2]

Van Avermaet's breakthrough year as a professional came in 2007 where he had 4 notable victories and a number of good placings on recognized races as it was his first year on major team Predictor–Lotto.

In 2012, Avermaet came very close to winning the World Tour race Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. He placed a strong attack in the steep Côte de la Montagne, with about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to cover and he was followed by Simon Gerrans (Orica–GreenEDGE). The pair built a sizable gap with the peloton and contested the slightly uphill sprint where Gerrans prevailed.[3]

File:ToU 2013 stage 1.jpg
Van Avermaet celebrating victory on Stage 1 of the 2013 Tour of Utah

In 2013, Van Avermaet won the Fleming of the Year Award thanks to his consistency in high profile races along with Chris Froome, who won the International version.[4]

In 2014, Van Avermaet started the season strongly by taking second places in both the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Tour of Flanders. He participated in the Tour de France and helped his leader Tejay van Garderen to a fifth place overall.[5] Later in the campaign, Van Avermaet finished for the third year in a row inside the top 5 of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. He attacked on the final rise, but folded near the line.[6] In September, Van Avermaet earned a prestigious victory at the 1.HC Grand Prix de Wallonie. He was part of a 4 rider move that broke clear with 20 km to go, and with the peloton on their heels, Van Avermaet attacked in the final bends to cross the line first.[7] A couple of days later, he won the GP Impanis-Van Petegem. It was later revealed in October that Van Avermaet had won the Flandrian of the year award for the second season in a row.[8]

Van Avermaet (right) on the podium after finishing third at the 2015 Paris-Roubaix

In 2015, Van Avermaet placed second of the Strade Bianche behind Zdenek Stybar.[9] He got his first victory of the season on Stage 3 of Tirreno–Adriatico by winning the sprint of a small group.[10] In April, he went on to get the third step of the podium in the Tour of Flanders after dropping Peter Sagan while chasing for the winning duet in the finale.[11] A week later, he had a prestigious podium placing at Paris–Roubaix, finishing third after being on the attack for the final kilometers.[12] Despite being under investigation for doping at that time (see section below), Van Avermaet participated in the Amstel Gold Race and finished fifth.[13] On 31 May 2015, Van Avermaet won both the final stage in the Tour of Belgium as well as the general classification.[14] He took part in the Tour de Suisse, finishing sixth of the Prologue, third of Stage 4.[15]

Van Avermaet was selected to ride the 2015 Tour de France, and helped BMC win the time time trial on Stage 9. On 17 July 2015, Van Avermaet won his first individual Tour stage on Stage 13 from Muret to Rodez. He out sprinted green jersey wearer Peter Sagan and fellow Belgian cyclist Jan Bakelants on an uphill finish.[citation needed] He pulled out of the race three days later due to his partner giving birth.[16]

On August 1, 2015 Van Avermaet attacked on the final climb of the Clásica de San Sebastián to lead the race ahead of the chasing Adam Yates (Orica GreenEDGE), but towards the top he was hit from behind by one of the motorbikes providing television coverage of the race. He was knocked to the ground and the frame of the bike was broken; Van Avermaet was unable to finish the race.[17] In the aftermath of the incident he claimed the crash cost him victory, and his BMC team threatened legal action over “millions of dollars in lost publicity”.[18]

Doping allegations

In April 2015 the Royal Belgian Cycling League requested a two-year ban for Van Avermaet, the disqualification of all his results during the 2012 season and a €262,500 fine following an investigation into suspected anti-doping offences. It was reported in the Belgian media that their accusations focused on allegations of Van Avermaet's use of the corticoid Diprophos, and Vaminolact, a fortified baby food which is banned from being injected.[19][20] On 7 May 2015, it was announced that Avermaet was cleared of all allegations.[21]

Palmarès

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2006
1st Internationale Wielertrofee Jong Maar Moedig
1st MaillotBélgica.PNG National Under-23 Road Race Championships
1st Kattekoers
2nd U-23 Paris–Tours
4th GP de Waregem
2007
1st Stage 5 Tour of Qatar
1st Stage 2 Tour de Wallonie
1st Rund um die Hainleite-Erfurt
1st Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
3rd Ronde van het Groene Hart
3rd GP Briek Schotte
4th Grand Prix d'Isbergues - Pas de Calais
4th Nokere Koerse
6th Halle–Ingooigem
8th Vattenfall Cyclassics
9th Overall Tour of Belgium
2008
1st Stage 2 Tour de l'Ain
1st Stage 9 Vuelta a España
1st Jersey blue.svg Points classification
2nd Overall Tour of Belgium
1st Stage 3
3rd Overall Tour of Qatar
3rd E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
7th GP Ouest France- Plouay
7th Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem
7th Overall Tour de Picardie
8th Tour of Flanders
2009
1st Heistse Pijl
4th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
4th Halle–Ingooigem
4th National Road Race Championships
5th Overall Tour of Belgium
5th Grand Prix d'Isbergues - Pas de Calais
6th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens - Rondom Leuven
9th GP du Canton d'Argovie
2010
3rd Halle–Ingooigem
5th UCI Road World Championships
7th Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem
8th Brabantse Pijl
9th Overall Tour de L'Ain
2011
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de Wallonie
1st Stage 5
1st Stage 6 Tour of Austria
1st Jersey red.svg Points classification
1st Paris–Tours
2nd Gran Piemonte
2nd Overall Tour of Belgium
3rd Clásica de San Sebastián
4th Halle–Ingooigem
7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
7th Binche–Chimay–Binche
9th Milan–San Remo
9th Montepaschi Strade Bianche
2012
2nd Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
2nd Grand Prix de Wallonie
4th Tour of Flanders
5th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
5th Strade Bianche
5th Brabantse Pijl
6th Paris–Tours
8th Gran Piemonte
9th Trofeo Deià
2013
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de Wallonie
1st Stages 3 & 5
1st Points classification
1st Stage 1 Tour of Utah
3rd Gent–Wevelgem
3rd Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
3rd Binche–Chimay–Binche
4th Paris–Roubaix
4th Gullegem Koerse
4th Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
5th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
6th Overall Tour of Qatar
1st Stage 2 (TTT)
6th Strade Bianche
6th Brabantse Pijl
6th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
7th Tour of Flanders
2014
1st Grand Prix de Wallonie[22]
1st GP Impanis-Van Petegem
2nd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
2nd Tour of Flanders
5th Overall Eneco Tour[23]
1st Stage 5
5th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
5th 2014 UCI Road World Championships
7th Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
10th E3 Harelbeke
10th Overall Tour of Belgium
2015
1st Jersey red.svg Overall Tour of Belgium
1st Stage 4
1st Stage 3 Tirreno–Adriatico
Tour de France
1st Stages 9 (TTT) & 13
2nd Strade Bianche[24]
2nd Overall Eneco Tour
3rd Tour of Flanders
3rd Paris–Roubaix
3rd Paris–Tours
5th Overall Tour of Qatar[25]
5th Amstel Gold Race
5th Vattenfall Cyclassics
6th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad[26]
7th Overall Tour de Yorkshire
10th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Pink jersey Giro
Yellow jersey Tour 89 38 WD
red jersey Vuelta 66 49 83

WD = Withdrew; In Progress = IP

Classics Results Timeline

This chart shows Greg Van Avermaet progress in the classics he mostly participated in.

Year Milan–San Remo Tour of Flanders Paris–Roubaix Amstel Gold Race Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Liège–Bastogne–Liège Strade Bianche Paris–Tours
2011 9th 22nd - 24th 30th 7th 9th 1st
2012 69th 4th - 36th 4th 73rd 5th 6th
2013 36th 7th 4th 16th 5th 63rd 6th 48th
2014 25th 2nd 17th 40th 2nd - - 39th
2015 19th 3rd 3rd 5th 6th - 2nd 3rd

DNF = Did not finish; - = Did not compete

References

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  16. http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jul/20/team-sky-pete-kennaugh-tour-de-france-withdraws-illness
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  18. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bmc-exploring-legal-action-after-van-avermaet-crash/
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External links