Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) was the big favourite to win yesterday's Le Samyn and everything appeared to be in place for his second 2014 victory when Sebastien Chavanel gave him the perfect lead-out. However, the French sprinter had ran out of legs and his team regretted the defeat in a sprint that he would have won "99 out of 100 times."

With a win in the Etoile de Besseges and a number of near-misses in the Tour of Oman, Nacer Bouhanni had proved that he is excellent condition right from the beginning of the season and so it was no wonder that the former French champion was the outstanding favourite to win yesterday's Le Samyn. The slightly uphill finishing straight suited him perfectly and when it all came down to the expected sprint, Bouhanni was in a great position to repeat his teammate Arnaud Demare' 2012 win in the event.

New lead-out man Sebastien Chavanel delivered him perfectly on the front but when he had to start his sprint, he had ran out of power. He hesitated too long which allowed a bunch of riders to pass him on his right-hand side, and in the end he had to settle for 3rd.

Afterwards, the team regretted that he had missed out on what should have been an easy win.

"This is a false flat finish with some special features," sports director Franck Pineau said. "It requires you not to start too early. The timing was good, Sebastien Chavanel did a perfect job as he brought Nacer to the 150m to go sign. 99 times out of 100, Nacer would have jumped and taken the win but he did not have good legs. Vantomme opened the sprint but Nacer could not pass him and have not even gained a metre on him. Usually, this is his strong point but there are days like this."

Bouhanni will next line up in the Paris-Nice which starts on Sunday.

The team had started the day off on a bad note as Anthony Roux again suffers from pain in his heel as he usually does at this time of the year. The Frenchman was unable to start the race and now has to rest in order to make a full recovery.