The new Paris-Nice leader knew that he had to sprint twice in Cerilly to secure the Yellow Jersey even if it meant sacrificing the stage win. 

A nice collection of jerseys today…

Yes. When I saw the peloton catch the break, I thought that today I would have to make two sprints. One in the final lap and the final sprint. For today I thought maybe I can win the stage, I thought it would be too hard for Kittel, but it was not hard for Kittel. He's a very strong sprinter and my satisfaction is this jersey.

Did you lose energy in the penultimate sprint?

No. When I saw that Chavanel made the sprint, I thought; “OK, I'll make two sprints”. The first objective was the Yellow Jersey for today.

Last year was all about the track and this year all for the road?

This winter I really worked hard for this and for the road after a fantastic season last year on the track and in London. I see this result as the proof that the work paid off.

There's a good generation of French sprinters but there's also a good generation of Italian sprinters…

Oh yes. In France I know Demare, Bouhanni and I know Bryan Coquard, he is very, very good. There's a very good French team in the sprint But the Italians are OK and ready too.