Arthur Vichot (FDJ) made a big coup on the final day of Paris-Nice when he took his first win in the French champion's jersey and used the bonus seconds to move him into third on GC. Having excelled on a course that suited the classics riders, the Frenchman has now set his sights on the Ardennes classics.

The Paris-Nice was described as a race made up of eight classics as the race had no time trials and no major summit finishes. Instead, it consisted of several stages with short, steep climbs that made them look like a typical race in the Ardennes.

Hence, the riders that shone in the race can be expected to come to the fore by the time the Ardennes classics take place and so it was a big confidence boost for French champion Arthur Vichot to perform so excellently in one of his biggest home races. Today he elevated his performance from being fine to being really excellent when he emerged as the strongest in the sprint on the Promenade d'Anglais.

The win was not only his first in the French champion's jersey, it also elevated him from 6th into 3rd on GC. Having not even been scheduled to do the race, Vichot couldn't believe the fantastic outcome of the race.

"It's the first time I win with the tricolore jersey on," he said. "It was the queen stage of Paris-Nice, it's just great.

"I could not ask for more. It's great to win with the tricolor jersey, this is the first time for me after taking so many places of honor, and then it is in the 'queen stage of Paris-Nice. This rewards the work of my teammates who have supported me all week as I was their leader for the first time.

"It's true," Vichot said when confronted with the fact that he had originally been scheduled to do Tirreno-Adriatico but changed his mind when he saw the course for the French race. "This year Paris-Nice was heavily loaded with stages for puncheurs and so I targeted the general classification. This morning I knew this morning that it was not done yet. Everything was still possible. 

In the sprint, there was a crash behind me, but that's racing. I have been the victim of a dropped chain earlier in the race and I don't know what happened in today's incident. It did not stop me from winning.

"Since the start om Mantes-la-Ville, Paris-Nice was like a classic every day. You had to be focused all the time, well placed. Every second counted! It's a great week for me, for my team. It's too good!

"The profile of this Paris-Nice favoring riders of my calibre made me the team leader for once. To finish on the podium after such a great stage it's just great.

"Now I'm going to concentrate on the classics and as early as next weekend on Milan-San Remo even though the course has changed and suits the sprinters better. I've not turned into a stage race specialist. Other stage races include time trials and mountains and are too hard for me. But I hope to be in the same form for the Ardennes classics which I like very much."

FDJ had a very successul race as Nacer Bouhanni won the opening stage and spent two days in yellow.