Nacer Bouhanni stamped his authority on the French sprint scene when he won today's unofficial French sprint championships at the GP Denain. With five wins already under his belt, the Frenchman will now gradually ramp up his preparations for the Giro d'Italia.

With Arnaud Demare and Nacer Bouhanni, FDJ have gradually developed into one of the leading sprint teams and the days when the team play an outsider role in the flat races are long gone. Instead, the team has assembled two strong lead-out trains for each of their two sprinters and they are no longer afraid of taking control in the sprints.

As the leading French sprint team, it is only fitting that the team has dominated one of the biggest French sprint races, the GP Denain, for the past two years. And it is even more fitting that the team has put both of its great sprinters on show in the big event.

One year ago Demare took the win when the pair had the rare chance to race together and this year it was Bouhanni's chance to shine. With Demare resting after a hard classics season, the responsibility to defend the title fell on Bouhanni's shoulders and he dutifully delivered the win.

It was another great team performance that laid the foundations for the win. FDJ often carry a big responsibility to chase down the early break but after a bit of work from Arnaud Courteille, the team chose to leave it to Europcar to chase down the early escapees. Hence, Bouhanni had his entire train at his disposal by the time, the speed ramped up near the end.

Laurent Pichon positioned the formation perfectly and then Sebastien Chavanel and finally Geoffrey Soupe gave their sprinter the perfect lead-out. Bouhanni won the race with a big margin, relegating Matteo Pelucchi to second.

It was Bouhanni's fifth victory and the FDJ sprinter is one of the most successful rider in the early part of the season. With today's win under his belt, he will now take a short rest to prepare for his next big objective: a return to the Giro d'Italia where he was close to a stage win 12 months ago.

"I produced my effort 250 meters from the finish line," he said with a big smile. "And no one passed me. We decided to keep our men for the final and my team really did a great job, especially my lead-out man. I just had to follow.

"I have one more victory than last year at the same time. Now I will give myself four or five days of rest before calmly preparing for the Giro d'Italia. And I know that my team will be very strong in that race."

It is still not decided whether Bouhanni will also return to the Tour de France but French press has speculated that Demare will be the lead sprinter in La Grande Boucle. After missing out on Milan-Sanremo selection, Bouhanni has publicly vented his frustration over his position in the team.