As part of a pre-race plan, sprinter Nacer Bouhanni did not start yesterday's 13th stage of the Giro. With a debut Tour de France planned this year, the French champion chose to rest ahead of a heavy race program in the summer.

Last year Nacer Bouhanni debuted in the Vuelta a Espana and a 2nd place in stage 10 in Sanxenxo saw him get close to a maiden win already on the very first occasion. He left the race a few days later but this year he was back in the grand tour action on the very first occasion as he lined up in the Giro with huge ambitions.

The FDJ team has, however, big plans with their young sprinter and they even want to show off his fast finishing speed on the biggest scene in his home country. A debut in the Tour de France is in store this year and he will use the Criterium du Dauphine and his jersey defence in the French championships as final preparation.

With a planned start in three grand tours in a row, the French team took the reasonable decision to save their young sprinter from the very hard final part of the Giro. While most attention went to Bradley Wiggins and Ryder Hesjedal, Bouhanni was another non-starter in yesterday's 13th stage.

" Now he will leave us," sports director Martial Gayant said. "He is 22 years old and a nice program awaits him. The Critérium du Dauphiné, the French championships and the Tour de France. He obtained good results in this Giro, third, fourth and second. It's very satisfying."

Bouhanni left the race on a high as he sprinted to second behind the invincible Mark Cavendish in stage 12. At first he was frustrated at his near-miss but having seen the video from the sprint, he realized that there was nothing to do against the dominant Brit.

"Cav is way above the rest," Gayant said. "A second place is good. Nacer has nothing to regret."

The team considered keeping him in the race for one more day but having talked to Maurizio Frondriest they realized that yesterday's stage was probably too hard to end in a sprint.

"It is true that the stage Thursday in Asti was quite tempting but Maurizio  Fondriest  told me that even though the first 175 kilometers are flat, the last 75 are hilly, and there is not a great chance to see a sprint finish.  Nacer  has finished the Giro d'Italia."

Having seen the outcome of yesterday's stage where Cavendish took his second consecutive win, there could be some kind of regret in the FDJ camp.

The team lost its GC rider Arnold Jeannesson due to back problems earlier in the race but Francis Mourey has stepped up and is climbing really well at the moment. They will do their utmost to support their new leader in today's first stage in the Alps. Starting at 14.15 you can follow the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.