During the winter, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) has had an eye operation to improve his vision. Suffering from myopia, the French sprinter has had difficulty judging the distance to the finish line and expects the operation to be a major improvement.

2013 was the year when Nacer Bouhanni finally proved to the world that he has the potential to become one of the best sprinters in the world. 11 wins speak volumes about the talent of the former French champion who also got close to his first grand tour stage win in the Giro d'Italia.

Looking at his results it is hard to imagine that Bouhanni has been slowed down by myopia. However, his vision is reduced by 30% on both eyes and this has severely impacted his ability to read the sprints properly and gauge the distance to the finish.

Without wearing glasses, Bouhanni has been severely hampered by the condition and has decided that the winter period was the time to correct the problem. He has had surgery on his eyes and expects that this will see him improve massively in the sprints.

In an interview with Velo Magazine, Bouhanni tells that the condition has been a major disadvantage "in the analysis of the sprints" and has led him "to making mistakes". As it "was hard to gauge the distance the finish line properly", he has often thrown his bike too early "such as throwing" too early "because it was hard to distinguish the finish line.  

"Now everything will be easier for me," he said. "I will be able to better analyze the sprints of my opponents, to fully understand the type of asphalt etc. This will change my life as a sprinter."

Among his 11 wins, three were at the WorldTour level, with Bouhanni taking a stage win in Paris-Nice and two in the Tour of Beijing. In 2014, he will again share sprinting duties on FDJ with another emerging French sprinter, Arnaud Demare.

The pair has not yet revealed how they will distribute the major races between them.