Arnaud Demare made an important statement of intent ahead of the World Championships with a well-timed and executed victory at Binche-Chimay-Binche.
After Nacer Bouhanni took victory at the Tour de Vendee on Sunday, Demare made his own case for leadership of the French team in Doha next month, outsprinting Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-QuickStep) as a cobbled climb shattered the bunch in the final kilometre.
Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Soudal) finished third, several seconds back, alongside Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), after a quartet emerged on the climb under the impetus of the Olympic champion. Stybar was the only one able to respond when Demare made a long-range bid for victory but, with a slight downhill run to the line, he was never able to get on terms.
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"It was a strange sprint – I knew we had a corner before the finish and decided to launch my sprint going into the corner," said Demare. "The team worked really well and I knew I was in good shape."
Having been named alongside Bouhanni in the French Worlds team, with tensions long having existed between the pair, Demare picked a good time to collect his first victory since June's Route du Sud.
"We're both in good form, both have good legs at the moment. We'll see what happens, but I think we'll work well together," said Demare diplomatically.
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