Former world champion Philippe Gilbert of the BMC team won the Fleche Brabanconne one day race on Wednesday after outsprinting Australian Michael Matthews and Frenchman Tony Gallopin to the finish at Overijse.
Australia's Michael Matthews of Orica GreenEDGE, Belgium's Philippe Gilbert of BMC Racing Team and France's Tony Gallopin of Lotto - Belisol celebrate on the podium with champagne on April 16, 2014
The 31-year-old Belgian, who won the road race world title in 2012 at Limburg in the Netherlands, picked up his first win of the young season after a series of escapes were reeled in by the peloton 11km from home.
"It's also my first spring win for BMC in three years," said the Liege native.
"To win at the beginning of the season is always good for the confidence and what has been missing for me the past two years," added the rider who won his only stage on the Tour de France in 2011 and wore the leader's yellow jersey for one day as a result.
"This win will give me a lot of reassurance ahead of the bigger races for me, such as the Amstel (Gold race), the Fleche (Wallonne) and Liege (Liege-Bastogne-Liege) which are coming up over the next 10 days," added Gilbert in reference to the upcoming one-day classics.
Japanese rider Yukiya Arashiro was the first to attack on the final climb to home and was closely followed by Gilbert and the rest of the pack.
Gilbert then launched his sprint to the line on the final stretch and just held off the charge from Matthews by a few centimetres as the two men crossed in identical times.
The win follows Gilbert's previous success on the race in 2011 and he succeeds Slovakian Peter Sagan, who won in a sprint finish in 2013.