Sylvain Chavanel'' Procycling'', UK, November 2008 (born 30 June 1979) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2018 for the , , and two spells with the / team. His brother

Sébastien Chavanel Sébastien Chavanel (born 21 March 1981) is a French former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He is a younger brother, by just under 2 years, to fellow professional cyclist Sylvain Chavanel. After three seasons wi ...

also rode as a professional cyclist. Sylvain Chavanel was noted as a strong all-rounder who won both sprints and time-trials, and was a good northern classics rider, taking 45 wins during his professional career.

Background

Chavanel was born in Châtellerault, France, although his family roots are in Spain. His great-grandparents were from Huesca, in the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

region. His grandfather was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and moved to Châtellerault during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. Other members of the family still live in Aragon. He said: "Last year

007 The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

when the Vuelta was in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, I got to know the cousin of mine using a journalist as the translator and she gave me a picture of my grandfather when he was young. Despite my origins, I hardly know a word of Spanish – just swear words". As a child he played in the garden with models of racing cyclists. He said: :We've got quite a big family and we're all into cycling. I remember playing out in the garden with my three brothers and sister with little figures that we gave names to. I was usually

Greg LeMond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France thrice and the UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, Road Race World Championship twice, becoming t ...

, then later I went on to be

Miguel Induráin Miguel Induráin Larraya (; born 16 July 1964) is a retired Spanish road racing cyclist. Induráin won five Tours de France from 1991 Tour de France, 1991 to 1995 Tour de France, 1995, the fourth, and last, to win five times, and the only five- ...

then eventually

Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert (born 30 November 1968) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as ''"Jaja"'' (slang for a glass of wine; when he continued drinking wine as a professional, the nickname stuck ...

. I remember LeMond's accent. I liked the way he spoke French. I just thought he was a nice guy and I liked his style of riding.'' Procycling'', UK, February 2003 Chavanel began cycling at Châtellerault school when he was eight. He gave up to try

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, then went back. :I started cycling again at 12 and from then on I improved every year. I was a fragile little thing, immature physically. I used to finish races halfway down the girls' field and at the back of the boys'. Everything changed the day that I beat my elder brother, Frédéric, in the cadet category, although he was better than me at the time.

Racing career

He began racing when he was 13. He won 29 races on the road as a schoolboy and a junior. He won the national junior

individual pursuit The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track. It is held at over for men and women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the rac ...

championship in 1997. His uncle, Philippe Raby, a former rider in the

Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.Jean-René Bernaudeau who was building a professional team based there. Bernardeau saw Chavanel race for the first time at Montreveau, in

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indr ...

, when he was racing against riders from Bernardeau's ''Vendée U'' junior team.

Bonjour (2000–2004)

Bernardeau and Chavanel agreed that Chavanel would spend another year with his club, AC Châtellerault, which had spent time and money on his training. Bernardeau's assistant, Thierry Bricau, was given the job of providing Chavanel with a training programme. Chavanel rode the Tour de l'Avenir in 1999 and then in 2000, aged 21, he turned professional for Bernardeau's ''Bonjour'' team, sponsored by a chain of local newspapers. He won the first stage of the Circuit Franco-Belge and lost his leader's jersey only on the last day. He also won the climbers' jersey in the Tour de l'Avenir by breaking clear in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

and rode alone at the front of

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m ...

. Bernardeau said: :Sylvain has some of the faults I had as a young rider. He's always working at the front of the race – you have to rein him in for his own good. At his age, life is beautiful and risks are there to be taken. But he's acquiring self-knowledge and his days of gratuitous long-range sorties and suicide attacks are coming to an end. Chavanel rode his first Tour de France at 22, finishing 65th, later coming third in the Tour de l'Avenir behind

Denis Menchov Denis Nikolayevich Menshov (often mistakenly romanized as Menchov, ; born 25 January 1978) is a former professional Russian road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 2000 and 2013. He was best known as a general classification rider ...

and Florent Brard. In 2002 he won the

Four Days of Dunkirk The Four Days of Dunkirk () is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Despite the name of the race, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has been held over a 5 or 6 day period for ...

and finished third in the Tour of Belgium. He later won both of those races in 2005.

Cofidis (2005–2008)

On 25 July 2008 Chavanel won the 19th stage of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

by outsprinting Jérémy Roy at Montluçon. That and other performances brought him election as the most combative rider of the race. On 3 September 2008, he came second in the

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

stage of the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ) is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. It was founded as Villa Real in 1255 as a ro ...

. His ride brought him to second place overall, two seconds slower than the American,

Levi Leipheimer Levi Leipheimer (born October 24, 1973) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He was twice US national champion, winning the time trial title in 1999 and the road race in 2007, and is an Olympic medalist. ...

. His team worked for him next day from Ciudad Real to Toledo to make sure he won time bonuses offered along the route. The six seconds he collected were enough to give him the leader's jersey on 4 September.

Quick Step (2009–2013)

Chavanel said in 2007 that he had had offers from foreign teams but was discouraged from joining them because he was unsure of his pension payments outside France. In July 2008 he said he had agreed with Patrick Lefevere the directeur sportif to join the team in Belgium for 2009. Chavanel said he made his decision to move after riding well in classic races in Belgium at the start of the year.Chavanel part chez Quick Step, L'Équipe, France, 27 July 2008 He won Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Brabantse Pijl. He said: :I had other options as well. Professionally, it's an experience that can only do me good. I had the chance to sign for three years with ''AG2R-La Mondiale'' but I had the feeling that I wasn't going to develop enough. I have always raced in France and, in my heart, some experience abroad has excited me for some time. I therefore decided to take the step and Patrick Lefévère's advances completely persuaded me. During the 2010 Tour de France, Chavanel took over the

yellow jersey The general classification of the Tour de France is the most important classification of the race and determines the winner of the race. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification has worn the yellow jersey ( ). History For the first t ...

after attacking at the mark on stage 2. Following a series of crashes affecting the General Classification contenders on the descent into Spa, the race was neutralized for every rider except Chavanel, who was the lone escapee at that time. He capitalized on that, opening up enough of a gap to win the stage and capture the yellow jersey from Fabian Cancellara (). The following stage was not so good for Chavanel as two punctures on the cobbled roads meant Fabian Cancellara re-took the yellow jersey, however on the Tour's first mountain stage from Tournus to Station des Rousses Chavanel bridged the gap to an early breakaway and rode away to take a famous win and inherit the yellow jersey for the second time. In the 2011 Vuelta a España Chavanel held the red leader's jersey for four stages. On stage three, as part of a breakaway, he finished second behind Pablo Lastras which left him second in general classification, 20 seconds behind Lastras. However, on the next stage Chavanel finished just 57 seconds behind the stage winner while Lastras lost over 18 minutes, thereby making Chavanel the overall leader of the Vuelta. He held this jersey until stage 8 where it was taken by Joaquim Rodríguez. In 2012, Chavanel won the Three Days of De Panne and won the French National Time Trial Championships for the fourth time. In 2013, after strong appearances in the Tour de San Luis and the Volta ao Algarve, Chavanel won stage six of

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

, taking the points classification at the race. Chavanel also won the overall classification at the Three Days of De Panne for the second year in a row, winning the final time trial stage. After five years with the team, Chavanel left the squad at the end of the 2013 season, and joined for the 2014 season.

IAM (2014–2015)

After winning the National Time trial title, Chavanel went on to win the 2014 Tour du Poitou-Charentes thanks to a great performance in the stage 4 time trial. A couple of days later, Chavanel topped a very successful week as he prevailed in the World Tour race GP Ouest-France by winning the sprint out of a small group ahead of Arthur Vichot. In 2015 he also accomplished the impressive feat of starting and finishing each Grand Tour.

Direct Énergie (2016–2018)

In September 2015 announced that Chavanel would join them for the 2016 season. In 2018, Chavanel participated in the

for the 18th time to take the record outright from Stuart O'Grady and Jens Voigt for the most

participations and was given the most combative rider award for the second stage. On 26 July 2018, Chavanel finished Stage 18 of the race to break the record for most number of stages completed – overtaking Joop Zoetemelk's 365. Three days later, he tied Zoetemelk's record of finishing the Tour de France 16 times and set the new record stages completed number at 369. On the last day of the race, 29 July, he announced he would retire after Tour de Vendée on 6 October 2018. He extended his career to the following week's Chrono des Nations before retiring.

Nickname

Chavanel was known as Chava, Mimosa or Mimo, after a French film character he imitated. In the Dutch-speaking Belgian media, he was nicknamed 'La Machine' for his outstanding stamina and determination.

Major results

Road

;1999 : 7th Overall Circuit des Mines ;2000 : 1st Jersey polkadot

Mountains classification, Tour de l'Avenir : 3rd Overall Circuit Franco-Belge ::1st Stage 1 : 6th Overall Tour de l'Ain : 6th Grand Prix de Villers-Cotterêts : 8th Grand Prix de la Ville de Lillers ;2001 : 2nd Châteauroux Classic : 3rd Overall Tour de l'Avenir : 3rd Polynormande : 4th Overall Tour de l'Ain : 6th Overall Tour de Picardie : 7th Overall Circuit Franco-Belge : 9th Le Samyn ;2002 : 1st Jersey pink

Overall

: 1st Trophée des Grimpeurs : 2nd Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes : 3rd Overall Tour of Belgium : 3rd Châteauroux Classic : 9th Overall Danmark Rundt ;2003 : 1st Tour du Haut Var : 2nd Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes : 2nd

Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan Grand Prix du Morbihan is a single-day men's road bicycle race held annually in May around Plumelec, in the region of Brittany, France. Since 2020, the race is organised as a UCI race classifications, 1.Pro event on the UCI ProSeries, also being p ...

: 3rd Overall Tour Méditerranéen : 5th Overall

: 5th Overall Critérium International : 5th Overall

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 H ...

::1st Stage 3b ( ITT) : 5th

Paris–Bourges Paris–Bourges is a French road bicycle race. The race originally started in Paris and ran to the town of Bourges in the Région Centre. However, in recent year with the length of races shortened it has become impossible to link the two cities a ...

: 9th Overall Paris–Corrèze : 9th Tro-Bro Léon ;2004 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour of Belgium : 1st Jersey pink

Overall

: 1st Polynormande : Tour du Poitou-Charentes ::1st Stages 3 & 4 ( ITT) : 5th Paris–Camembert : 5th Trophée des Grimpeurs : 6th Grand Prix de Fourmies : 9th Overall Tour Méditerranéen : 10th Overall Critérium International ;2005 : 1st MaillotFra

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

, National Championships : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 5 : 1st Jersey white

Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes : 1st Duo Normand (with Thierry Marichal) : 9th Overall

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne (; ), officially abbreviated TdP, is an annual, professional men's Race stage, multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages and is usually around 1,200 km ...

;2006 : 1st MaillotFra

, National Championships : 1st Jersey white

Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes : 7th Overall Paris–Corrèze : 7th

: 8th

Gran Premio di Lugano The Gran Premio di Lugano () is a road bicycle race held annually in Lugano, Switzerland. Prior to 1981 it was held as an individual time trial but in recent years it has been organised as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Europe T ...

;2007 : 3rd Trophée des Grimpeurs : 4th Overall Critérium International : 9th

: 10th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ;2008 : 1st MaillotFra

, National Championships : 1st Dwars door Vlaanderen : 1st Brabantse Pijl :

::1st Stage 19 :: Jersey red number

Combativity award Stages 2, 6 & 19 :: Jersey red number

Winner Super Combativity award : 1st Stage 5 Tour Méditerranéen : 1st Stage 4

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had ...

: 2nd Overall Volta ao Algarve : 8th Overall

::1st Stage 6 : 10th

, UCI World Championships ;2009 : 2nd

, National Championships : 2nd Overall Eneco Tour ::1st Prologue : 2nd Overall Volta ao Algarve : 3rd Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 3 : 4th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens : 5th

E3 Prijs Vlaanderen E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 ki ...

: 7th

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

: 7th Dwars door Vlaanderen : 9th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne ;2010 :

::1st Stages 2 & 7 ::Held Jersey yellow

after Stages 2 & 7 ::Held Jersey green

after Stage 2 :: Jersey red number

Combativity award Stage 2 & Overall : 2nd

, National Championships : 7th Overall Tour du Limousin ;2011 : 1st MaillotFra

Road race, National Championships : 2nd

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

: 4th Overall Three Days of De Panne :

::Held

after Stages 4–7 ;2012 : 1st Gold medal uci

Team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...

, UCI World Championships : 1st MaillotFra

, National Championships : 1st Jersey white

Overall Three Days of De Panne ::1st Stage 3b ( ITT) : 2nd Overall Eneco Tour : 2nd Dwars door Vlaanderen : 2nd Chrono des Nations : 8th Overall

: 8th Overall Tour de San Luis : 10th

;2013 : 1st Gold medal uci

, UCI World Championships : National Championships ::1st MaillotFra

::2nd Road race : 1st Jersey white

Overall Three Days of De Panne ::1st Stage 3b ( ITT) : 3rd Chrono des Nations : 4th

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

: 4th Brabantse Pijl : 5th Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 6 : 6th Overall Eneco Tour ::1st Stage 5 ( ITT) : 6th E3 Harelbeke : 7th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad : 8th Grand Prix de Wallonie ;2014 : 1st MaillotFra

, National Championships : 1st Jersey white

Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes ::1st Stage 4 ( ITT) : 1st GP Ouest–France : 1st Chrono des Nations : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 3 : 3rd Overall Tour of Belgium : 5th Dwars door Vlaanderen : 7th Overall Tour Méditerranéen : 7th Overall Tour of Britain ;2015 : National Championships ::3rd

::3rd Road race : 9th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía ;2016 : 1st Jersey white

Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes ::1st Stage 4 ( ITT) : 4th Overall

Étoile de Bessèges The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a ...

::1st Stage 3 : 5th Overall Three Days of De Panne ;2017 : 4th

, National Championships : 4th Overall Three Days of De Panne : 5th Overall

::1st Stage 4 : 5th Overall

: 9th

: 9th Tro-Bro Léon : 10th Chrono des Nations : Jersey red number

Combativity award Stage 16

;2018 : 2nd Overall Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine : 4th Overall

: 4th Overall Tour La Provence : 5th Cholet-Pays de Loire : 5th Chrono des Nations : 6th

La Roue Tourangelle La Roue Tourangelle is a road bicycle race held annually in the Region Centre-Val de Loire, France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territo ...

: 6th Paris–Chauny : Jersey red number

Combativity award Stage 2

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Classics results timeline

Track

;2015 : 1st MaillotFra

Individual pursuit, National Championships ;2016 : 1st European champion jersey 2016

Team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

, UEC European Championships : 1st MaillotFra

Individual pursuit, National Championships : UCI World Cup, Glasgow ::1st Individual pursuit ::2nd Team pursuit ;2017 : National Championships ::1st MaillotFra

Madison (with Thomas Boudat) ::2nd Individual pursuit ;2018 : National Championships ::2nd Individual pursuit ::2nd Madison (with Thomas Boudat) ::3rd Team pursuit

References

External links

* * * *
Tour de France results

Palmares at Cycling Base

Chavanel pakt eindzege Driedaagse na winst in tijdrit
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chavanel, Sylvain 1979 births Living people French male cyclists French Tour de France stage winners Olympic cyclists for France Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics People from Châtellerault 2010 Tour de France stage winners UCI Road World Champions (elite men) Sportspeople from Vienne (department) French people of Spanish descent Sportspeople of Spanish descent Cyclists from Nouvelle-Aquitaine