The internal rivalry between two FDJ.fr promising sprinters heats up, as the time arrives to name the squad for the upcoming Tour de France edition, certainly the most important cycling event for any French rider.

Younger and more versatile Arnaud Demare, who has reportedly extended his contract with FDJ for two more seasons, was racing on home soil last two weeks dominating Four Days of Dunkirk and Tour de Picardie with four stage wins and overall victories in both events.

Pleased with his recent progress, the 22-year old Frenchman suggested that both stage events served him as a perfect confidence boost and preparation towards the Tour de France, apparently certain about making the selection for the FDJ squad for the greatest three-week event.

“Since the Quatre Jours de Dunkerque, I think exclusively about the Tour. It was tremendously good preparation. The Tour monopolizes all my attention completely,” Demare told Voix du Nord.

Never denying his rivalry with Nacer Bouhanni, the younger sprinter admitted that latest successes of his team-mate at the Giro d’Italia serve him as an additional motivation to chase victories himself.

“When I race, I race to win. I came here with an ambition of winning a stage. When I see Nacer [Bouhanni] win in the Giro, I think it’s feasible,” Demare told L’Equipe during the Tour de Picardie last week.

As Demare’s self-assurence seems to be increasing rapidly in regards to racing on the road as well as to his position within the FDJ team, extremely confident about his spot for the French grand tour, young sprinter suggested that there is no possibility of sharing the leadership in sprints with his older team-mate.

“I don’t think we can ride the Tour together. We can’t coexist because of differences in our characters. A victory of one of us certainly wouldn’t please another, that’s how it is.”

In the same time Bouhanni, still uncertain whether to extend his contract with FDJ or connect his future with another WorldTour squad, is racing in the Italian grand tour. Despite a very successful Giro campaign with three stage victories already on his account, the 23-year old sprinter feels underappreciated by the French team and several times suggested that they are favoring Demare.

"It started with Paris-Nice when I was taken off the roster for Milan-Sanremo because I had abandoned after five days," he said. "But I had pain in my knee. I could not bend the leg. If I did 200 watts, I suffered massively. Then I was informed via email - without any explanation - that I would not do Sanremo. The pain was over and that race was my goal. It really hurt.

"I'm also frustrated that I have never been part of the classics roster with Demare, Offredo, Delage. I want to win Ghent-Wevelgem, Paris-Tours, Hamburg, I know I'm capable of that."

Bouhanni also revealed that his younger team-mate made it clear that he wouldn’t work for him if they rode the Tour de France together, what was somewhat confirmed by Demare himself in the interview for Voix du Nord.

"If I feel bad, yes, of course," he said. "It is a matter of honesty, but he would not do it for me. He won't share the roles, he has already said that he will never ride for me. I think this kind of statement is disrespectful to [manager Marc] Madiot. But hey, everyone has their own way of acting."