The Belgian rider won the Points Jersey in a Grand Tour event, and had success in the one-day events.

Van Avermaet won the Points Jersey in the 2008 Vuelta a Espana.

Van Avermaet was also 3rd in the 2015 Paris-Roubaix Classic behind John Degenkolb of Germany and Zdenek Stybar of the Czech Republic.

Van Avermaet also won the Paris-Roubaix Classic in front of Zdenek Stybar of the Czech Republic and Sebastian Langeveld of the Netherlands.