German fast man John Degenkolb admitted his victory at Magny-Cours, which moved him into the overall lead, was his last chance for stage honours at this year’s race. But with the yellow jersey on his back, the Giant-Shimano man showed a renewed vigour and was desperately unlucky to miss out after a stunning effort on the ascent of Mont Brouilly, which had proved the beating of his sprint rivals. The team have already confirmed Degenkolb, not Marcel Kittel, will lead the team at Milan-San Remo, and on this showing, he will take some beating.

Fifth in La Primavera two years ago, Degenkolb concluded last year with two one-day victories – at Paris-Bourges and Paris-Tours – and has shown in the past he has great ability in the Classics too. Peter Sagan (Cannondale), Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) and Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) make for formidable opposition but the German showed he too has the form to succeed in the first Monument of the year. And while Degenkolb, who had the consolation of the white jersey despite losing his overall lead, took the plaudits in Paris-Nice, Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) also put in a big effort to win the sprint for fourth place. With so many sprinters in form this year, Milan-San Remo promises to be some spectacle.