Six days ago Marc Sarreau had a first experience as a neo-pro to see all his teammates work for him in the final of the third stage of the 3 Days of De Panne. Yesterday it was again the case and he finished it off with a nice fourth place in the Scheldeprijs.

"Marc is young (21 years) but he is a rider that I like and that's why he did his first Tour of Flanders and that he will do his first Paris-Roubaix on Sunday. He is eager to learn and it allows him to be part of the preparation of the sprints, to gain experience in the group. And today, it gave the whole team a purpose," FDJ manager Marc Madiot said.

David Boucher and his companions protected their young spriner while Alexandre Géniez contributed to the pace-setting behind the 7 escapees. Mickael Delage took over in the last two kilometers of the always eventful semi-classic. Once again, a huge crash caused by Guardini (Astana) made for some drama. No FDJ rider was involved but it took out Olivier Le Gac who tried to lend a hand to Delage and Sarreau.

In front of a group of fifteen riders, Delage gave everything to deliver Marc Sarreau and he dropped him off 200 meters from the finish line.

"We did well," said Sarreau. "Mika swung off 200 meters from the line and I have a good position which allowed me to take the lead but I still lacks power and I have not managed to accelerate my sprint. Especially against guys like Kristoff who passed 50 meters from the line, and Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Hutarovich (Bretagne). I finished fourth and I will not complain about that result. It's not bad!"