At the age of only 23, Nacer Bouhanni of FDJ.fr has established himself as one of the strongest contenders to retake the crown of a fastest sprinter in the professional peloton and managed to gain respect from his more renowned rivals as the one not to be underestimated, should a race be decided from a bunch.

With another talented rider from his French team, Arnaud Demare, they form a new wave of young sprinters who soon are expected to take the reins and both have already leaved their mark in 2014, with Bouhanni adding a stage won at the Etoile de Besseges to his impressive career’s 18 victories and Demare claiming another one at the Tour of Qatar.

For sprinters in the end everything comes to the particular numbers, and Bouhanni certainly follows such philosophy, claiming that instead of having a defined targets for the season he simply aims to win every race he participates in.

"To win races, some big races. I'm not looking towards any one in particular. I want to fight with the world's best sprinters. They are very strong, but not unbeatable. They have two legs, two arms, a head and a heart [just like me]," he told L'Equipe.

Bouhanni, who quickly was recognized for his very aggressive style of playing out races in their finales, began his career in sports as a boxer before he switched gloves for a bike. He claims, however, that even though a touch of madness is necessary in both, seemingly very different, disciplines, a cold head is needed to make a proper calculations when is comes to a sprint from a bunch.

"But it's not just a case of being mad. On the contrary, the sprint is all about making lots of tiny calculations," he said.

"When I am in the final kilometre, I am only thinking of one thing and that's the finish line. I am obsessed by that and all I am thinking about is getting over it in first place."

The 23-year old FDJ.fr rider admits, that as the finish line approaches, every race is of the same importance for him and the only goal is to add another victory to his palmares. French rider also confesses that such a big drive to succeed affects him and his surrounding, making him a very demanding and difficult person to leave with.

"When I'm training, that's all I think about. For me, there aren't any small races. I give absolutely everything all the time. I've been like that since I was small and I'm the same with any game I'm playing with friends, such as bowling. I always want to win, I love it," he said.

"In all honesty, I am not easy to live with. I am demanding in what I want from myself, I want everything to go well. And, at the same time, I'm very demanding with others, but I do get on well with my teammates. We've got a good understanding," said Bouhanni.

Bouhanni admits as well that it took some particular time to gain an acceptance and respect from more experienced rivals, but as his results are systematically improving it wouldn’t be wise to underestimate him anymore.

"You've got to have character in order to gain respect. Initially, that wasn't easy and there were some attempts to intimidate me," he said.

"You have to accept that. When you're new on the scene, you upset the big sprinters a bit. You have to fight for your place to be able to rub shoulders with them. But once they are accustomed to seeing you and you get some results, respect automatically comes as well."