Wellens headed into the final day with a narrow six second lead over Dutch rider Bauke Mollema and the Belgian was able to preserve his advantage.

His Lotto-Soudal team opted to set the pace in the peloton during the 168 kilometre stage in Guilin, following an early three-man breakaway.

They were assisted by sprinter’s teams in the closing 20km of racing, eventually pulling back the group of Italy’s Daniel Oss, Spain’s Jon Irisarri and China’s Wang Meiyin.

A sprint was made an inevitability, with Gaviria coming through to take the victory in a time of 3 hours, 46min and 30sec.

The Quick-Step Floors rider sealed his fourth win of the race, having triumphed on the first three days of the event.

Italy’s Niccolo Bonifazio was forced to settle for second place on the same time as the stage winner.

The Netherlands’ Dylan Groenewegen, who beat Gaviria yesterday, completed the podium positions.

Having finished safely in the peloton, Wellens was confirmed as the overall winner of the race.

He retained his six second advantage over Mollema in the standings.

The top three in the overall classification was rounded off by Ireland’s Nicolas Roche, with the BMC Racing rider ending a further five seconds down.

The completion of the race brought the UCI WorldTour season to a close, with the stage having taken place prior to the season ending UCI Cycling Gala in Guilin.

The 2018 season will begin with the Tour Down Under, which will take place in Australia from January 16 to 21.