Romain Bardet will make Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya the first goals of his season which will be his fourth after he made his debut with the Ag2r team in 2012.

The French climber, sixth in the 2014 Tour de France, has confirmed his schedule for the first part of the season: GP Marseillaise (February 1), Classical Almería (15), Vuelta a Andalucía (18-22), Classic Sud Ardèche (28), Drôme Classic (March 1), Paris-Nice (8-15) and Volta a Catalunya (22-29). The Tour de France will be the major objective of the second half and he will again share leadership with Jean-Christophe Péraud, second in last year’s edition.

The schedule is a familiar one for Bardet who has again decided not to start his season in Argentina or Australia. "The month of February will be the launch pad for March where the objectives are Paris-Nice and Catalunya,” he confirms on Facebook. Bardet is 24 years old and recently renewed his contract with Ag2r until 2018.

With a sixth place in the Tour as a great reference, Bardet proved in 2014 to be a great stage race rider and more than a climber. The Frenchman won the Drome Classic and was second in the Tour de l'Ain, fourth in the Volta a Catalunya (behind Joaquim Rodríguez, Alberto Contador and Tejay van Garderen), fifth in the  Dauphiné and Montreal, tenth in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and eleventh in Lombardy.