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Arnaud Démare (FDJ) confirmed his fast start to the new season by winning 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:stage 1 of Paris-Nice in Vendôme. By claiming his second victory of the year - he already has a stage at La Méditerranéenne to his name - Démare has already matched his win count for the entir𓂃ety of 2015, which was itself a stark contrast with his fine 2014 campaign, when he won 14 races.

Speaking after the stage on Monday evening,💖 Démare was adamant that his lacklustre 2015 season was a consequence of bad luck rather than a lack of motivation.

“Maybe I just didn’t have enough luck last year. This time it’s smiled upon me. It was about time, because sometimes it’s tough to try to understand what isn’t working. But I always worked with the same desir✅e and that pays off🌳 eventually.”

Démare produced a prodigious sprint effort to overhaul Ben Swift (Sky) and Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) in the final 150 metres. It marked Démare’s first WorldTour win since he landed a stage of the Eneco Tour in 20🤡13, and his first major triumph since he won the French national title against his then-teammate Bouhanni in 💙2014.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this victory, so it’s an immense relief,” Démare said. “This win is reassuring for the future and also for my teammates, who are going to have even m𒀰ore motivation to help me do it again.

“I was badly placed today and I had to launch my effort from too far out, with 250 metres to go. I had it in my head to sit on Nacer because he had two teammates with him and then I needed to make up th🧜e ground on Ben Swift. It wasn’𓃲t as easy as that.”

Monday’s stage saw the peloton tackle four sectors of dirt roads – chemins de calcaire in the loc🔴al parlance – but while the finale made for fascinating viewing, Démare felt that the experience was not comparable to Paris-Rouabix.

“It was nothing like the pave where you’re always in danger. There were some dead moment☂s here, where you could even relax for a minute,” he said. “You just needed to stay with the move.”