Démare celebrates Giro hat-trick

French sprinter’s third stage win opens up commanding lead in points jersey competition

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French sprinter Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) made a strong case for being considered the best sprinter in the world right now as he wrapped up a hat-trick of stage wins at the Giro d’Italia last week.

The 2016 Milan-San Remo winner put in a blistering performance on stage seven of the race to take his post-lockdown sprint win tally to 11, far ahead of other top-form sprinters Sam Bennett (Deceuninck Quick-Step) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) on four apiece.

In his earlier stage wins Démare had looked good but not head and shoulders above the other sprinters, but with the third, he opened up a sizable gap on the competition and now seems to be riding a wave of confidence that will take a lot for his rivals to break.