"I hope we can do that next year!” - Arnaud Démare confident of reaching 100 wins in 2024 following another triumph at Paris-Bourges

Arnaud Démare has won in the space of a few days the Tour de Vendée and now Paris-Bourges. The Frenchman has entered his stint with Arkéa Samsic quite well and has resumed his streak of victories, which he hopes to take towards 100 next year.

“I had never won here. Now I think I won almost every French race at least once in the period September-October - very cool," Démare said in a post-race interview following Paris-Bourges. “This time the competition was even greater than in the Tour de Vendée. My goal was to win for Arkéa before the end of this season. I wanted to thank them for their trust and the opportunity they gave me. It worked, twice. It's a relief after a very difficult year. These victories will give confidence to the entire group.”

The 32-year old outsprinted Arnaud De Lie and Jordi Meeus to take what was a powerful and convincing win, showing great form right before the season finale. “In the beginning I had the feeling that I lacked the rhythm of the race. It was difficult to play with, even though I had trained very well all summer. I also had bad luck with flat tires and falls. Even at the European Championships I had a problem and couldn't show what I had in me.” However now the pieces of the puzzle are fitting together.

He started the season with the goal of racing the Tour de France - when he didn't it triggered his departure from Groupama - FDJ - and reaching 100 wins. Now he has 95. “I hope we can do that next year," he says. He still has the chance of getting number 96 however, his final race of the season will be this weekend's Paris-Tours where he is a double defending champion.