FDJ dominated most of yesterday's Scheldeprijs as they played a leading role in chasing down the day's early escape. Having burnt up their matches too early, however, they were unable to support Arnaud Demare in the finale and the Frenchman ended a disappointing day in 21st.

Yesterday's Scheldeprijs ended as a close fight between the peloton and the breakaway, with the escapees only being caught 2.5km from the finish. At one point, it even seemed that the escapees had a chance to create a big surprise.

In the end, the peloton managed to set up the expected bunch sprint but the teams that went away with the goods have to send a big thank to FDJ. The Frencj squad did the brunt of the chase work for most of the day, first with Laurent Mangel and later with David Boucher, Yoann Offredo and Murilo Fischer.

The effort was impressive but may have been costly in the end. While most other teams still had a lot of fresh riders, FDJ sprinter Arnaud Demare was left with just William Bonnet and Mickael Delage in the finale. When the former had a mechanical, he was unable to get to the front in the technical finale and had to settle for a disappointing 21st.

"I wanted the guys to take things into their own hand, "manger Marc Madiot said. "And that is what they did when a break of 6 riders took off. But nobody came to help us and we used too much energy. 

"We managed our best effort, keepint Mickael Delage and William Bonnet for the final sprint, but William had mechanical problems which made things more complicated."

Demare will get his chance to take revenge in Sunday's Paris-Roubaix where he will jon Offredo and Matthieu Ladagnous as team leaders.