Van Avermaet looking to repeat at Paris-Tours

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BMC's Greg Van Avermaet has been in the mix for the entire year, but is still looking for his first win of 2012. The 27-year-old Belgian has a chance to turn his season around with a repeat victory in this weekend's Paris-Tours, but is still recovering from being sick.

Van Avermaet caught a cold in the dismal conditions at Il Lombardia last weekend and skipped Tuesday's Binche-Tournai-Binche to recover.

"I'm recovering well from my sickness," Van Avermaet said. "I went out Wednesday for a few hours and felt much better than I did Monday and Tuesday. But I still don't have the same power in my legs yet."

Van Avermaet has shown his form to be good at last month's GP de Québec and GP de Wallonie; he finished second in both races. He's been tantalisingly close to the podium in a number of races this year: fourth in the Tour of Flanders and fifth in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, and Brabantse Pijl, but has yet to step up to the top step of the dais.

BMC directeur sportif Rik Verbrugghe thinks an aggressive finish will be good for Van Avermaet or his teammate Alessandro Ballan. "We'll have a real offensive team with Alessandro and Greg, who can both do something good in the final," he said. "And if it comes down to a real field sprint, we have Adam [Blythe]."

BMC Racing Team for Paris-Tours Roster: Alessandro Ballan, Adam Blythe, Brent Bookwalter, Yannick Eijssen, Manuel Quinziato, Michael Schär, Greg Van Avermaet, Larry Warbasse