Cycling-Van Avermaet clinches rare victory (Reuters)
(Adds details, quotes) By Julien Pretot RODEZ, France, July 17 (Reuters) – Greg van Avermaet, one of cycling’s nearly men, enjoyed a rare victory when he claimed the 13th stage of the Tour de France on Friday with a late burst of speed in an uphill finale. The Belgian BMC Racing rider powered away from a small group on a steep final straight to outsprint Slovakian Peter Sagan, who is himself developing a reputation for failing at the finish. Van Avermaet, a specialist at one-day races, was third in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix this year, having also collected scores of top-five finishes in the classics yet very few big wins in his career.