# Sylvain Chavanel

Sylvain Chavanel (born 30 June 1979) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2018 for the Cofidis, Omega Pharma–Quick-Step, IAM Cycling and two spells with the Brioches La Boulangère/Direct Énergie team. His brother Sébastien Chavanel 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 region. His grandfather was born in Barcelona and moved to Châtellerault during the Spanish Civil War. Other members of the family still live in Aragon. He said: "Last year [2007], when the Vuelta was in Zaragoza, 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, then later I went on to be Miguel Induráin then eventually Laurent Jalabert. 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.
Chavanel began cycling at Châtellerault school when he was eight. He gave up to try football, 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 championship in 1997. His uncle, Philippe Raby, a former rider in the Vendée region, recommended him to 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, 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 and rode 217 kilometres (135 miles) alone at the front of Paris–Tours.
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 and Florent Brard. In 2002 he won the Four Days of Dunkirk 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 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 stage of the Vuelta a España at Ciudad Real. His ride brought him to second place overall, two seconds slower than the American, Levi Leipheimer. 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 Quick-Step 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. 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 after attacking at the 10-kilometre (6.2-mile) 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 (Team Saxo Bank). 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, 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 IAM Cycling 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 Direct Énergie announced that Chavanel would join them for the 2016 season. In 2018, Chavanel participated in the Tour de France for the 18th time to take the record outright from Stuart O'Grady and Jens Voigt for the most Tour de France 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 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 Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
    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
    3rd Overall Tour Méditerranéen
    5th Overall Paris–Nice
    5th Overall Critérium International
    5th Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
       1st Stage 3b (ITT)
    5th Paris–Bourges
    9th Overall Paris–Corrèze
    9th Tro-Bro Léon

#### 2004

    1st Overall Tour of Belgium
    1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
    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 Time trial, National Championships
    1st Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
       1st Stage 5
    1st Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes
    1st Duo Normand (with Thierry Marichal)
    9th Overall Tour de Pologne

#### 2006

    1st Time trial, National Championships
    1st Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes
    7th Overall Paris–Corrèze
    7th Paris–Bourges
    8th Gran Premio di Lugano

#### 2007

    3rd Trophée des Grimpeurs
    4th Overall Critérium International
    9th Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan
    10th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

#### 2008

    1st Time trial, National Championships
    1st Dwars door Vlaanderen
    1st Brabantse Pijl
    Tour de France
       1st Stage 19
       Combativity award Stages 2, 6 & 19
       Winner Super Combativity award
    1st Stage 5 Tour Méditerranéen
    1st Stage 4 Volta a Catalunya
    2nd Overall Volta ao Algarve
    8th Overall Paris–Nice
       1st Stage 6
    10th Time trial, UCI World Championships

#### 2009

    2nd Time trial, National Championships
    2nd Overall Eneco Tour
       1st Prologue
    2nd Overall Volta ao Algarve
    3rd Overall Paris–Nice
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 3
    4th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens
    5th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
    7th Paris–Roubaix
    7th Dwars door Vlaanderen
    9th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne

#### 2010

    Tour de France
       1st Stages 2 & 7
       Held after Stages 2 & 7
       Held after Stage 2
       Combativity award Stage 2 & Overall
    2nd Time trial, National Championships
    7th Overall Tour du Limousin

#### 2011

    1st Road race, National Championships
    2nd Tour of Flanders
    4th Overall Three Days of De Panne
    Vuelta a España
       Held after Stages 4–7

#### 2012

    1st Team time trial, UCI World Championships
    1st Time trial, National Championships
    1st Overall Three Days of De Panne
       1st Stage 3b (ITT)
    2nd Overall Eneco Tour
    2nd Dwars door Vlaanderen
    2nd Chrono des Nations
    8th Overall Paris–Nice
    8th Overall Tour de San Luis
    10th Tour of Flanders

#### 2013

    1st Team time trial, UCI World Championships
    National Championships
       1st Time trial
       2nd Road race
    1st Overall Three Days of De Panne
       1st Stage 3b (ITT)
    3rd Chrono des Nations
    4th Milan–San Remo
    4th Brabantse Pijl
    5th Overall Paris–Nice
       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 Time trial, National Championships
    1st Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes
       1st Stage 4 (ITT)
    1st GP Ouest–France
    1st Chrono des Nations
    2nd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
       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 Time trial
       3rd Road race
    9th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía

#### 2016

    1st Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes
       1st Stage 4 (ITT)
    4th Overall Étoile de Bessèges
       1st Stage 3
    5th Overall Three Days of De Panne

#### 2017

    4th Time trial, National Championships
    4th Overall Three Days of De Panne
    5th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
       1st Stage 4
    5th Overall Étoile de Bessèges
    9th Tour of Flanders
    9th Tro-Bro Léon
    10th Chrono des Nations
    Combativity award Stage 16 Tour de France

#### 2018

    2nd Overall Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine
    4th Overall Étoile de Bessèges
    4th Overall Tour La Provence
    5th Cholet-Pays de Loire
    5th Chrono des Nations
    6th La Roue Tourangelle
    6th Paris–Chauny
    Combativity award Stage 2 Tour de France

#### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 36 | — | — | — |
| Tour de France | 65 | 36 | 37 | 30 | 58 | 45 | DNF | 61 | 19 | 31 | 61 | DNF | 31 | 34 | 54 | 43 | 25 | 39 |
| Vuelta a España | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | DNF | — | — | 27 | — | — | — | 47 | — | — | — |

#### Classics results timeline

| Monument | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| Milan–San Remo | — | — | — | — | 52 | — | 71 | — | 59 | 37 | 21 | 20 | — | 4 | 21 | 23 | — | — | — |
| Tour of Flanders | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 29 | 31 | 24 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 45 | 33 | 9 | — |
| Paris–Roubaix | DNF | 52 | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | 38 | 27 | 19 | — | 94 | DNF | 19 | 80 |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | — | — | DNF | DNF | 89 | 48 | 46 | 57 | — | — | DNF | 69 | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Giro di Lombardia | — | — | — | — | — | 84 | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | — | — | — | — | — |
| Classic | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 36 | 17 | 20 | 25 | 21 | 7 | 26 | 28 | 34 | 53 | — |
| Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | 22 | 91 | 125 | NH | — | — | — | 60 | — |
| E3 Harelbeke | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 28 | — | 33 | 6 | 29 | 20 | — | 61 | 29 |
| Gent–Wevelgem | — | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 22 | 47 | — | — | — | 20 | 72 | — | — |
| Dwars door Vlaanderen | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 7 | 66 | 27 | 2 | — | 5 | — | — | 85 | 72 |
| Brabantse Pijl | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | 24 | — | — | 4 | — | 23 | — | — | — |
| Amstel Gold Race | — | — | — | 119 | — | 60 | 60 | 109 | 57 | 24 | 16 | 16 | 37 | — | DNF | 79 | — | — | — |
| Clásica de San Sebastián | — | — | — | — | — | 106 | 91 | 70 | 14 | 32 | — | 17 | DNF | 11 | — | — | — | — | — |
| GP Ouest–France | — | — | — | — | — | 58 | 12 | — | 59 | — | 33 | — | 91 | 48 | 1 | — | 34 | — | — |
| Paris–Tours | 85 | 84 | — | — | — | 87 | — | — | — | 36 | 51 | 35 | 83 | 12 | 31 | — | — | — | 45 |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |
| NH | Not held |

### Track
#### 2015

    1st Individual pursuit, National Championships

#### 2016

    1st Team pursuit, UEC European Championships
    1st Individual pursuit, National Championships
    UCI World Cup, Glasgow
       1st Individual pursuit
       2nd Team pursuit

#### 2017

    National Championships
       1st Madison (with Thomas Boudat)
       2nd Individual pursuit

#### 2018

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