For the hilly one-day races Classic Sud-Ardeche, one needs good legs to shine. FDJ admit that they lack the power at the moment.

The verdict seems to be a hard one but it is perfectly understandable. In the group led by sports director Yvon Madiot, there are riders who were ijured in Ruta de Sol like Alexandre Geniez who hurt his knee and only manage to ride nine hours last week, Arthur Vichot, Kenny Elissonde and Anthony Roux who is ill and is taking antibiotics.

"Everybody volunteered to do a job early in the race," Madiot said after t. "That's why we chased behind the four escapees for a big part of the day. For example, Anthony Roux preferred to ride on the fron instead of sitting on the wheels."

In the difficult conditions with cold and rain, Kevin Reza quickly realized that he hadn't recovered from his efforts in the Classic Sud-Ardèche and when the race got tough, only four FDJ riders were still in the mix: Benoît Vaugrenard, Laurent Pichon, Kenny Elissonde and Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier).

"And when the fight broke out, Vaugrenard was the victim of a fatal puncture and the same happened Pierre-Henri (two punctures in 5 m) whose return to competition is encouraging," Madiot said. "We had no success and considering the health of our leaders, I fear that our team is not at the top for Paris-Nice. But we still have some time..."