Démare: It's a big disappointment to miss Tour de France selection

Arnaud Démare has admitted his disappointment at not making Groupama-FDJ's selection for this year's Tour de France.

The French sprinter took part in his fifth Tour last year but finished outside the time cut on stage 9 and left the race with just a fourth place to his name. He has two career victories at the race, compared to five stages at the Giro d'Italia, where he'll line up once again in 2022.

Speaking at his team's presentation ahead of the upcoming season, Démare said that he has accepted the decision to ride the Giro while the team focuses on the GC battle at the Tour with Thibaut Pinot, David Gaudu, and Michael Storer.

"Of course, it's a big disappointment for me that I will ride the Tour de France this year," he said. "It's not because things didn't work out last year that it would automatically go wrong again – you have to remember that I've won two stages there in the past.

"But that's the team's choice. We pursue the team's interest, not just my own goals. Because it's the best for the team, I accept it."

While Démare didn't win a stage at the Tour or at the Vuelta a España in 2021, he did enjoy success in races outside the WorldTour throughout the season. The 30-year-old took nine victories, including two stages of the Volta a la Valenciana and three stages and the overall at the Boucles de la Mayenne before rounding off his season with a win from a small lead group at Paris-Tours.

That volume of wins is nothing to be sniffed at, though he did finish his season without a victory at a major WorldTour race for the first time since 2015. Démare said he wasn't best pleased with how his 2021 campaign went.

"There are some years when your hard work is not rewarded," he said. "That's discouraging. But winning Paris-Tours in the autumn really did me good and, knowing that the results would come in the end, I had a good winter. Consequently, I have set myself big goals again this year."

He's set to kick off his 2022 season at the UAE Tour before heading to Italy for Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo, which he won back in 2016.

Paris-Roubaix is also on his calendar before heading to the Giro d'Italia, where he won four stages and the points jersey two years ago. The sprinter-friendly Worlds in Australia will also be among his goals.