Sunday night there was a fair bit of frustration in the FDJ camp at the end of Milan-San Remo, the Italian classic that was won by John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin). Bad luck once again derailed the plans for Arnaud Démare and his teammates who had done everything for more than six hours.

Everything went perfectly for 280 kilometers until the bottom of the Cipressa where the last of the eleven escapees was caught by the peloton. Until then, the teams of favorites Kristoff and Sagan had done the work. Demare saved energy in the peloton.

"We were in the peloton all day,"said Benoît Vaugrenard. "We were quiet, well placed, grouped around Arnaud and never panicked. I think that we were very good."

Having done his work, Sébastien Chavanel let go on the Capo Berta but Yoann Offredo who guided the riders in the positioning, William Bonnet, Benoît Vaugrenard and Laurent Pichon who did his first La Primavera, were still with the FDJ leader.

Everything was going well but once again the fate turned against the FDJ team. Arnaud Démare clipped a wheel, just behind Cavendish and Cancellara, and fell to the ground with William Bonnet. The French champion was quickly back on his feet but his bike was unusable. Having got a new bike, he received the support of Benoît Vaugrenard who sacrificed himself completely but the pace of the peloton was too fast. It was mission impossible!.

"It's really annoying," said sports director Martial Gayant. "It would be good to finally have some luck. Without this twist of fate, we would have had 5 riders with Arnaud on the Poggio and he would have been the winner. Finally, Laurent Pichon, Mathieu Ladagnous and Yoann Offredo who have their chance next Friday in the Grand Prix E3, remained in contact, but it was very hard to achieve a good result. It is time that our fortunes change..."