Paul Martens continued his recent string of successes when he finished third in today's queen stage of the Ster ZLM Toer. Having enjoyed the support of his teammates all day, however, he came up short against Philippe Gilbert in the uphill sprint and admitted that he had been up against a stronger rider.

Belkin Pro Cycling TEAM's Paul Martens sprinted to third behind winner Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) in Ster ZLM Toer stage four in La Gileppe, Belgium. Gilbert, with his bunch kick, also gained enough time to take the black leader's jersey from Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano). Martens jumped from 13th to fourth overall.

"The sprint went well but the first two were just stronger," Martens said. "I have to accept that, no excuses."

Followers of the Dutch stage were kept on the edge of their seats until the final kilometre when the escape was finally caught. The catch gave the green and black squad a chance to deliver Martens to a stage win.

"The race went as expected," Sports Director Michiel Elijzen explained. "BMC Racing and Omega Pharma controlled the group and our team didn't race until the final kilometres.

"We tried to support Paul as much as possible, especially with Jos Van Emden and Maarten Tjallingii, who closed the gap to the last breakaway riders and put Paul in the wheel of Gilbert for the sprint."

Gilbert and Tim Wellens (Lotto-Belisol) muscled ahead of Martens, however. Martens jumped to fourth overall and with the win, Gilbert moved from fourth to first with just the final stage to Boxtel over the border in the south of The Netherlands tomorrow.

"It'll probably be a bunch sprint on Sunday but maybe an exciting race with the bonification seconds up for grabs," said Elijzen. "We will sprint for Robert Wagner and try to get some seconds with Paul."