Italian Marco Marcato wins Paris-Tours classic

• Marcato holds on for victory, withstands challenge
• Race of 146 miles has favored sprinters in the past

TOURS, France (AP) — Italy's Marco Marcato won the Paris-Tours classic in a sprint finish Sunday.

Marcato was beaten to the line by Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium in a head-to-head sprint last year, but this time he held firm and withstood a challenge from Laurens De Vreese of Belgium and Dutch rider Niki Terpstra.

The 146-mile trek from Chateauneuf-en-Thymerais to Tours has favored sprinters in recent years, and this was the case again as the three riders broke away.

German rider John Degenkolb, one of the pre-race favorites, could not match the pace and finished in fourth place, six seconds behind the front three, who all had times of 4 hours, 50 minutes, 34 seconds.

Van Avermaet was sixth, 12 seconds behind.