Arnaud Demare had a conversation with Jacopo Guarnieri on Monday after the Giro d'Italia presentations were over.

At this season's Giro, De Mare requested that Grupama FDJ renew his lead-out train contract. However, despite a hat trick and a second Maria Ciclamino, DeMare's request went completely unheeded. Guarnieri will join Lot Destony next year, while Ramon Sinkeldam will move to B&B Hotels.

"Of course I was disappointed," DeMare told Cycling News at the Teatro Lirico in Milan. 'Still, I am a competitor and now I have to adapt. There are still elements from the train like Miles Scottson and Ignatas Konovalovas, and there are young riders coming in. I expect them to learn quickly."

Grupama-FDJ's roster includes Thibaut Pinot and David Gaudoux, but De Mare has long lived with the fact that sprint victories have always been secondary to the team's quest for overall victory at the Tour de France. In 11 seasons with the team, they have competed in the Tour just five times, and only once since their second stage win in 2018.

However, despite regularly missing out on July, De Mare has also achieved results elsewhere during his time with the team, including a Milan-San Remo and French title hat-trick, back-to-back Paris-Tour wins, and eight stage wins in the Giro. But it was not enough to convince Marc Madiot to keep the train. Meanwhile, all seven of Groupama-FDJ's new 2023 contingent come from Continental teams.

"It's the global vision of the team, it's their idea. I respect their choice and their general vision," DeMare said cautiously. We have young riders who have the potential to learn. It will be a challenge, but without Jacopo and Raymond, we have to accept it. But I am optimistic that we will be able to adapt."

De Mare's reduced lead-out train is hardly a vote of confidence from the team, but nothing has yet been decided about the 2023 race program. The respective routes of the Giro and Tour, and of course the ambitions of Pinot and Gaudoux, will reveal this.

"We need to analyze the Giro a bit more to see how many finishes are really sprintable.

Demare, a Beauvais native who specializes in short, sharp climbs, may find something more solid in that possibility than his fellow fast men. It's true that when the racing is hard, as it was this year in Cuneo, I'm always the better man," he said. Sprinting when you're already tired suits me, but too hard is not ideal either."

The Grand Tours are not the only question mark in De Mare's 2023 race program. The Frenchman was a strong contender for Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de Flanders when he was younger, but he has been concentrating on sprints for the past few seasons and has rarely raced on cobblestones. His recent Paris-Tour victory in the Chemin de Vignes may prompt a rethink.

"I haven't decided about spring yet. Missing the classics this year has made me want to go back to them. Winning a classic race like Paris-Tours makes me want to go back to Omloop or Coule Brussel-Coone.

"In any case, winning Paris-Tour would change the winter for me; I had a lot of second and third places in September and October, so it was really nice to win the biggest and nicest race at the end of the season. I want to enjoy this break and prepare for next year."