After being acquitted of any wrongdoing in the doping case that saw him getting expelled from the 2012 Tour de France, Remy Di Gregorio has returned to the peloton with the small La Pomme Marseille team. Yesterday he proved that he is strong enough to compete with the best when he finished 2nd in the Boucles de l'Aulne and he now dreams about returning to a higher level.

Remy Di Gregorio saw his promising career unravel when he was arrested by French police on suspicion of doping. In April 2013, it was revealed that Di Gregorio could resume his career, since the products found in his possession at the Tour turned out to be vitamins and this year he has been back in the peloton with the La Pomme Marseille team.

He has already proved on several occasions that he is still able to mix it up with the best and yesterday he got close to a big win when he finished second in the Boucles de l'Aulne. Having made the gradual selection, he found himself in a 16-rider group in the finale but with no teammates at his side he could do nothing when Rody Kowalski and Alexis Gougeard escaped.

The Frenchman accelerated on the one-kilometre climb to the finish and managed to pass Kowalski but he ran out of metres in his quest to taek the win. While Gougeard soloed across the line, Di Gregorio had to settle for another place of honour.

"I'm disappointed but there is also satisfaction," he told Directvelo. "The front dup worked well together from the start. It was a race of attacking rather than elimination and I was always ahead.

"In the end, there were several teams well represented, so it was up to them to chase. I was not very well placed when the front duo attacked. I attacked on the climb to the finish. I managed to pass Rudy Kowalski for 2nd place but I missed  a little to get the win. 

"I'll take a small break, then I should so the Ronde de l'Oise before soing to Route du Sud. I feel good right now, yesterday I finished 5th. I was also 9th in the Tour of Azerbaijan.

"The Coupe de France races don't really suit me. I would prefer to return to a team at least on the pro continental level as I would then get a better program. Now I can do the Criterium International but I can't do the WorldTour races."