Arnaud Démare and FDJ riders practise their sprinting in Spain (video)
Arnaud Démare gets the speed back in his legs at FDJ's training camp in Calpe
December is the time when most WorldTour teams head to sunnier climes for their winter training camps, but judging by this video from FDJ the French team got a bum deal with the weather in southern Spain.
The FDJ sprinters got their chance to show off their speed in a session in Calpe, on the Costa Blanca, with the sun making way for leaden skies.
Even with Nacer Bouhanni departing for Cofidis, Marc Madiot’s team are not short of sprinting talent, with Arnaud Démare racking up 15 victories in 2014.
Steve Morabito and Kevin Reza join the team at the camp from BMC and Europcar respectively, with the team working to improve on Thibaut Pinot’s third-place finish at the Tour de France.
The riders were not sporting their new white kit, wearing instead their blue ‘away’ kit as they took it in turns to sprint past the chap on the moped.
And, of course, any FDJ video featured on CW gives us the chance to put one of our favourite videos out again – Bradley Wiggins falling off a cyclocross bike in 2002.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt5h-rnsF6I
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Stuart Clarke is a News Associates trained journalist who has worked for the likes of the British Olympic Associate, British Rowing and the England and Wales Cricket Board, and of course Cycling Weekly. His work at Cycling Weekly has focused upon professional racing, following the World Tour races and its characters.