Arnaud Démare almost comes away with gold after "very nervous" sprint against Fabio Jakobsen

The European championships saw a bunch sprint decide the winner, and Arnaud Démare showed his best legs to almost take what would be a very important win for his season and career.

“The French team has done a great job. Everyone did their best. Given the nervous course, I wanted to avoid dangers and always be in the first ten riders," Démare said in a post-race interview. "It wasn't a hard day, but it was very nervous because there were always corners.”

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With the likes of Rudy Barbier and Bryan Coquard alongside, it wasn't known how exactly France would play their cards, however Démare did not suffer with any kind of internal dispute. He followed the wheels of the Belgian leadout until late in the day, then directly sitting behind Fabio Jakobsen.

“We had to be patient and stick together. It worked. The goal after that was to pull it on a ribbon, and we did that on the last lap. The last straight line was very long. I chose the right wheel, Fabio Jakobsen's," he described. "But he was very strong. I was in his wheel, but he still had a man in front of him.”

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Démare had a lot of speed in the final meters, however the distance he had back on the Dutchman wasn't enough to bring back, and he had to settle with a second place. He nevertheless showed good form, and will have more opportunities in the coming weeks to take big wins.

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