At the Paris Tour in 2011, the fresh-faced Greg van Avermaet overtook the departing Marco Marcato and at the same time fended off the sprinter for a bold breakthrough victory.

The ideal final result of Van Avermaet's career is to roll the year for the final victory in the same race on Sunday.

"The Paris Tour is the first big classic to win in 2011, and I also belong to the French team," pointed out the AG2R-Citröen rider.

"I would be very happy if I could finish with a good note and I still have the ambition to try and win it. That has always been my goal, and Sunday is no different either.

Fellow prominent retiree Peter Sagan announced his decision to cut his wheels at the Vuelta de San Juan on May 1, but Van Avermaet explained that his decision came during the 2023 season after a disappointing spring classic campaign.

"I've always had a lot of pleasure riding my bike, but the results are no longer right at the top and age is not going to help me," said Van Avermaet, 38. "That's why this happened.

"I took my decision after the classic, but I'm also happy to be here doing the end of the season. It was a good decision and this is why I can profit from doing until the last race.

"This is my passion, and even if I always knew that one day it would have to happen, it wouldn't be easy to stop. I had a good career, 17 years long, and I'm very proud of what I did.

Van Avermaet will do his last race on Belgian soil in the 1st Binche-Chimay-Binche Classic on Tuesday before heading to France for a Paris tour.

He admitted that he gets emotional when riding under the last flamme rouge and along the last kilometer of the French classic. But he also knows that a new part of his life "becomes the beginning," and all those difficult moments form a part of sports and life.

"That's how cycling is: there's no gift, to the end, and actually that's what I like about it," he observed.

"You are in good shape, you are in front." You're not very good, you're behind.

Van Avermaet may not have had many gifts during his 17-year career, but his ability to win stunning and very diverse victories without asking anyone's permission has always been in evidence. Belgium has 42 wins so far, including stage wins at the Tour de France, back-to-back victories in the Leader's Jersey, Paris Roubaix and Het Nieusbad, and points classification at the Vuelta a España.

He became famous and earned the nickname "Golden Greg" by winning the Road Road at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"People only know victory. But being competitive has always been the key to my career, and I also have a lot of top 10s. That consistency has always been very important to me," Van Avermaet said Monday.

When Van Avermaat arrives next Monday and officially retires, he will not rush to start a new career. He has the intellect and career earnings to allow himself some time. His top priority is to spend time with his family, but he will be doing off-road racing as an amateur in Spain and South America this winter. "I'm lucky to be in a place where I can afford to wait to make a little decision," he said.

First, there is a series of break-ups, looking at what he can achieve in the final race on the roads of Binche-Chimay-Binche and Paris-Tours.