A little more than a week after beating some of the best sprinters in the world in the final stage of the Tour of Qatar, Arnaud Demare was back in the mix when the Volta ao Algarve ended with a bunch sprint. The fast Frenchman was beaten into 2nd by Mark Cavendish but his team insist that their man was the fastest rider in the race.

As he has already won the Vattenfall Cyclassics and stages in WorldTour races like the Tour de Suisse and the Eneco Tour, no one doubts that Arnaud Demare is fast. Recently, he proved it when he took a hugely convincing win in the final stage of the Tour of Qatar.

Yesterday he had another chance to show his progress when he went up against Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) in the final stage of the Volta ao Algarve. This time there was no cigar as he was beaten into second by the Manx Missile but his team insists that Demare had been the fastest rider in the race.

"It was really a matter of nothing," sports director Franck Pineau says. "It was just a matter of a little better cooperation between Arnaud and his two lead-out men Geoffrey Soupe and Mickael Delage. They emerged from the bunch a bit too late and Arnaud who was faster than anyone else, lacked nothing to win. It is a shame but it has been a great week for the FDJ.fr team. All the time it was very nice, the stages were balanced and allowed us to work well."

There is clearly a battle going on for the honour of being the fastest sprinter in yesterday's sprint as Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) claimed to have been the best after having been boxed in during the sprint.

Despite not winning a stage, FDJ had a successful week that also saw Alexandre Geniez finish 4th overall.

"I feel that all of our riders leave this race stronger," Pineau said. "It is the perfect preparation for Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatco and next weekend's Belgian classics. [FDJ manager] Marc Madiot needs to pay for it again next year.

"Regarding Alexandre Geniez' fourth place, it is really promising. When he has realized that he lacks confidence, he will realize that he can battle with the best in the stage races. I am really satisfied with everything even though we lack the stage win that we came to Portugal to achieve."