Arnaud Demare (FDJ) is flying at the moment as he proved today by winning a tough uphill sprint on the second stage of the Eneco Tour. Having been brought into position for the sprint by his teammates, he started his sprint from 5th and opened up a big gap to world champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) while Mark Renshaw (Belkin) suffered a late puncture and thus lost his leader's jersey to the stage winner.

Demare latched on to the wheel of teammate Mathieu Ladagnous who played a very important role in the build-up to the finish.

This step had been very carefully prepared by the staff of the FDJ.fr Frederic Guesdon and Yvon Madiot as the step uphill finish seemed favorable to Arnaud.

"We had a very detailed plan for the entire stage,” explained Madiot on the team website. “The guys knew exactly what to expect. Rather than remaining in the second car, I drove in front of the race and it helped me to see the final climb, which was not very hard but needed thorough preparation. It was important!"

Thus, the FDJ.fr team had prepared the ground for Demare, who was located around tenth place at the foot of the final bump that was negotiated at a brisk pace. A rider from the Astana team broke free 600 metres from the line and caused a break but Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team), with the help of a teammate, was vigilant, as was Mathieu Arnaud Ladagnous who relocated in the wake of world champion and pulled Demare with him to set him up perfectly for the win.