Romain Bardet made up for his great disappointment at Paris-Nice where crashes destroyed his plans, when he finished 4th in the Volta a Catalunya that ended yesterday. Having beaten riders like Nairo Quintana and Chris Froome, the young Frenchman saw it as confirmation that he can be up there with the best riders in the world.

Romain Bardet had been very ambitious for this year's Paris-Nice but the young Frenchman didn't have any luck at the French event. He lined up at the Volta a Catalunya eager to make amends and he returned from Spain with a result that he had never imagined.

In a field that contained the entire top 4 from last year's Tour de France, Bardet finished 4th and even beat riders like Nairo Quintana and Chris Froome. He got close to a stage win in the queen stage where he was beaten into second by Tejay van Garderen.

The results continued the excellent start for Ag2r who won Paris-Nice with Carlos Betancu and had Jean-Christophe Peraud and Domenico Pozzovivo in the top 6 of the Tirreno-Adriatico. In addition to Bardet, Pozzovivo and Samuel Dumulin also shone in Catalonia, with the former finishing 8th overall and the latter taking 3rd in a stage.