Alex Dowsett brought an end to a superb neo-pro season with third place at the Chrono des Nations.

The British National Time Trial Champion rounded out the podium places in France to make a successful return to the scene of his under-23 victory last season.

The result marked the eighth top-three placing for Dowsett in a debut year in the pro ranks which has yielded three victories.

The 23-year-old backed up a similar third place on stage one at the Tour of Beijing in his first race at WorldTour level, the winner that day again proving to be a class above.

Unsurprisingly it was Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) who took a convincing victory by over two minutes as the European racing season drew to a close in the town of Les Herbiers.

The World Time Trial Champion ensured his 100 per cent record in the rainbow jersey remained intact by clocking a time of 56 minutes and 20 seconds around the 48.5-kilometre course.

The German was fastest through all three checkpoints to hold off the challenge of Gustav Erik Larsson (Saxo Bank-Sungard) and register the 12th win of a dominant season against the clock.

Dowsett rounded out the podium places 47 seconds further back in the final race of the season for Team Sky.

Season-ending

The win was significant for Martin’s HTC-Highroad squad as it marked the final victory in the team’s final race, closing a chapter on one of the most winning outfits in the history of cycling.

The 30th edition of the time trial event was also the scene of a late-season comeback for Alexandre Vinokourov. The Astana rider crashed heavily during the Tour de France, breaking his pelvis and briefly announcing his retirement in the aftermath.

The Kazakh rider was 27th out of the 28 riders on the day at the traditional season-closing challenge.

Britain’s David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) was also in action, the 2010 winner registering the fifth best time behind Stef Clement (Rabobank).