Gianni Meersman failed to finish off a dominant showing by his Omega Pharma-Quick Step team in today's La Drome Classic when his sprint win was only enough for 3rd. However, the Belgian is satisfied with his form and has now set his sights on Paris-Nice whose course suits him down to the ground.

Omega Pharma-Quick Step were the dominant force in today's hilly French La Drome Classic but the team failed to come away with the win. Gianni Meersman lived up to expectations when he won the sprint from the decisive breakaway group but as they had failed to catch Romain Bardet and Sebastien Delfosse, he had to settle for third.

With Meersman, Jan Bakelants, Pieter Serry, and Serge Pauwels all in the 13-rider group that decided the race, the team had the numbers to play it smartly in the finale. They launched Bakelants up the road and he was joined by Delfosse, Bardet, Mickael Cherel, Pierrick Fedrigo, and Riccardo Zoidl to form what seemed to be the decisive move.

However, Meersman was confident in his sprint and so he asked teammates Serry and Pauwels to close it down. They didn't succeed as Bardet and Delfosse escaped near the end but Meersman takes consolation in the fact that his form is good ahead of Paris-Nice.

"The race was difficult from kilometer 0 to the end," he told Directvelo. "I still had the "punch" in the finale. Unfortunately, there is no victory at the end, and it is like this.

"We were still several team riders in the front group. Even if we had Jan Bakelants ahead, I asked Pieter Serry and Serge Pauwels to try to bring it back. I was confident in my sprint.

"The most important is to have been a protagonist these last two days, both the team and myself. I'll do Paris-Nice and Milan-San Remo. There will be eight road stages of Paris-Nice, no prologue, no summit finish. This is a coruse that suits me."