If you're a sprinter fighting to save your career and even Warren Barguil is willing to rub shoulders and elbows for you, you've got a good thing going. Nacer Bouhanni's unexpected resurgence at Arcair-Samsic continued this afternoon when the 29-year-old won the opening stage of the Tour de la Provence in the southern French seaside town of Sainte Marie de la Mer in the Camargue, winning the first stage and the leader's jersey It was followed by.

Following his stage win in the Tour of Saudi Arabia, Bouhanni's rejuvenation in the Breton team is now in full swing. Initially, he was not even going to participate in Provence, as he was supposed to take part in the canceled Tour of Oman. In Bouhanni's case, however, it is not a simple matter.

He was put in a disadvantageous position with 300m to go and had no choice but to freestyle to the front. Still, it was a convincing win ahead of Jakub Maleczko (CCC) and Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling), but given his cliffhanger finish on stage 2 at La Ciotat/Les Cres, it would be difficult for him to lead the race for more than one day.

"[Stage 2] will be terrain better suited to other riders than to me. Warren (Barguil) and Nairo (Quintana) will want to test themselves and fight for the overall. I'm looking forward to finishing in Aix on Sunday.

Perhaps there is still time for Bouhanni, whose career at one point seemed to be on the wane, to become one of the best sprinters in stage racing. While there is no disputing his talent, his temperament and relationship management have often been described as doomed.

The adjective punchy was coined for Bouhanni. His many upheavals are now legendary and have long overshadowed his success. Even the French media dubbed him "the Mike Tyson of the peloton."

On the eve of the 2016 French national championships, he missed out on that year's Tour de France due to a fight with a "drunken" hotel guest, and he punched a rival on stage 10 of the 2017 Tour.In the 2018 season, he had an unsuccessful time with Cofidis and was named the team's He had a heated argument with Roberto Damiani, the team's sporting director, and was not selected for the Tour.

Bouhanni really did not like Cofidis. He said of the French team, "For two years, it was a nightmare, a hell of a time. A bitter personality clash with team boss Cedric Vassoul, which even involved teammate Christophe Laporte, forced Bouhanni to move again.

In Arkea Samsic's present day, he is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. Marcel Kittel, once his "crying spot," is long gone, and Mark Cavendish - well, who knows what results Cavendish will have this season - is undergoing a kind of resurgence. Now he's up against a young sprinter, but Bouhanni's ambitions are unwavering, and his relationship with his teammates seems to be on the upswing at the moment.

So he vowed to work for Barguil and Nairo Quintana in the next two climbing-oriented stages. He said, "When you see one leader working for another leader, it makes you want to do your best. Our team is in great shape."

Perhaps he is thinking of Sunday's final stage of the four-day race in Provence.