Groupama-FDJ sprinter Arnaud Demare stood on the podium at the finish of the Giro d'Italia in Milan on Sunday. The second half of the season, which has been affected by the coronavirus, has been a stark contrast to the first half for De Mare.

"The Giro was exceptional and it was an exceptional season in every sense of the word," Demare said on the team website.

After a winless start to the UAE Tour, De Mare became one of the riders quarantined at the team hotel in Abu Dhabi, and in mid-May he broke his wrist in a crash during mountain bike training. However, he was able to return to racing after the mandatory quarantine due to the coronavirus and took two second places at the Vuelta a Burgos in late July.

"It was a series of blockades, navicular fractures, and victories. I remember the team spirit never breaking from the end of July all the way up to today."

"We've had a very good off-season. We have a very good off-season and we know what we have to do to keep performing well."

De Mare was not a member of the Groupama-FDJ Tour de France, which is solely composed of Thibaut Pinot's overall ambitions, but the 29-year-old Frenchman certainly showed during the month before the Tour that he has the form to perform well in the Tour, won the Milan-Torino race at the beginning of August, followed by two stage wins and the overall title at the Tour de Wallonie. He then won the road race title at the national championships the week before the Tour, but insisted that his goal was the Giro.

And while the Tour began in Nice at the end of August, De Mare continued his winning ways at the concurrent Tour Poitou-Charentes, taking three stage wins and the overall title, followed by a stage win at the Tour de Luxembourg in mid-September.

All led to success in the Giro, and after surviving the opening time trial and the hilly days that followed, Demare seized his first opportunity on stage 3, Vilafranca Tirrena, holding off Sagan and David Ballerini of Dečuninck-Quick Step in a group He won the sprint.

He followed that up with back-to-back wins on stages 6 and 7 over Michael Matthews (Sunweb) and Sagan, respectively, and again over Sagan on stage 11 in Rimini.

"When I won the first stage, I thought, "Let's keep going!" I thought, "Let's keep going! I thought, "Let's keep going! And after the second stage, I thought, "Let's keep going! I thought, 'Let's keep going! And after the third stage, I thought, "Let's keep going! '"

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"In the end I won four stages and took the cyclamen jersey ahead of Sagan. I was really disappointed to lose the jersey last year and it was still close this year," he recalled losing the points jersey to Sagan's Bora teammate Pascal Ackermann just three days before the finish in Verona in the 2019 Giro.

"Only the day before yesterday [Friday], when the breakaway group won, did I know that the championship was decided," De Mare said. I'm personally satisfied, but four stage wins is more unforgettable than anything else." Winning the cyclamen jersey was also important for the people back home, and I received many messages of support to win the points title."