Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) is starting to almost forget this Giro d'Italia. At the stage winner's press conference in Rimini on Wednesday, a photographer signaled for his attention while one of the Frenchman's responses was being translated. De Mare was pictured with two fingers raised in a victory salute.

Demare, who had already completed a hat trick of stages in the opening week of the race, won a dominant sprint victory on the Rimini beach ahead of Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) to keep his 100% group finish record in this Giro He maintained his record of 100% group finishes in this Giro.

Demare's first win in this Giro came on stage 4, Villa Franca Tirrena on the Tyrrhenian coast, when his sprint was in danger of being temporarily frustrated when Miles Scottson inadvertently rode the peloton off his wheel in the last kilometer. This time, Groupama-FDJ's leadout was perfect. Scozzone smoothly powered through the last kilometer, and Jacopo Guarnieri led De Mare halfway to Lungomare Augusto Mulli. Once Demare was out in open water, no one could catch up to his knot speed.

"Four sprints, four wins. Today was the perfect sprint. It was my first perfect sprint in the Giro," DeMare said after the race. It was good timing. Ignatas Konovalovas took the lead with two kilometers to go, and Miles Scottson and Jacopo Guarnier made a big turn. Jacopo showed great power from the last 400 meters and was already quite fast when I sprinted."

DeMare has been one of the peloton's standout performers since racing resumed in early August after the coronavirus blockade. Although he was left out of the Groupama-FDJ squad for the Tour de France (as planned), he has been riding almost without a break for the past 10 weeks, winning 14 races in the rescheduled and compressed race, including Milan-Torino, the French national title, and the Tour du Poitou-Charentes.

Among his sprint rivals is perhaps the most prominent of the Giro, Elia Viviani (Cofidis), but De Mare seemed to struggle to rediscover his top-end speed during his long absence from the race. However, DeMare seems to have benefited from his long period of time away from racing.

"I just adapted to the team situation, I didn't have to do 10 virtual races in one week, I was able to settle in," DeMare said. It was a difficult time, but the team didn't put any pressure on me. At the beginning of the lockdown, I had 15 days off, and then I ran 8 to 10 hours a week on the turbo.

Demare broke his wrist shortly after the race ban was lifted in France, forcing him to take another two weeks off. When he returned at the Vuelta a Burgos, he had six weeks of full training but finished a disappointing second.

"The period leading up to Burgos was a real alabrook. I trained hard to get back in shape, and I like to work on short-term goals," DeMarre said.

"Behind that was some early season training, like the high altitude training in the Sierra Nevada.

With his victory in Rimini, De Mare extended his lead in the points standings to 36 points over Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe); a year ago, he lost that spot to Sagan's teammate Pascal Ackermann due to a strategic blunder in the final week in Santa Maria di Sala. lost his spot. On that evidence, De Mare has no reason to avoid a direct confrontation in this Giro.

"Once we won the first week, the Giro was basically a success. The season is already a success, with 14 wins," De Mare said. 'Now everything is a bonus.'