Sylvain Chavanel
Encyclopedia
Sylvain Chavanel Albira (born June 30, 1979) is a French professional road bicycle racer. His brother Sébastien Chavanel
Sébastien Chavanel
Sébastien Chavanel is a French professional road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team . He is a younger brother, by just under 2 years, to fellow pro cyclist Sylvain Chavanel.- Palmares :20032004...

 is also a cyclist.
Chavanel started his professional career in 2000 with Jean-René Bernaudeau's team Bonjour, which became Brioches La Boulangère in 2003. He is currently riding for UCI ProTeam Quick Step.

Background

Chavanel was born in Châtellerault, France, although his family roots are in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. His great-grandparents were from Huesca, in the Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...

 region. His grandfather was born in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

 and moved to Châtellerault during the Spanish civil war
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

. Other members of the family still live in Aragon. It is the Spanish link that gives Chavanel the double name of Chavanel-Albeira, although he uses it only on official forms.

He said: "Last year [2007], when the Vuelta was in Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...

, 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
Greg LeMond
Gregory James LeMond is a former professional road bicycle racer from the United States and a three-time winner of the Tour de France. He was born in Lakewood, California and raised in Reno, Nevada....

, then later I went on to be Miguel Indurain
Miguel Indurain
Miguel Ángel Indurain Larraya is a retired Spanish road racing cyclist. He won five consecutive Tour de Frances from 1991 and 1995, the first to do so, and the fourth athlete to win five times. He won the Giro d'Italia twice, becoming one of only seven people in history to achieve the Giro Tour...

 then eventually Laurent Jalabert
Laurent Jalabert
Laurent Jalabert is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as "Jaja" , he won many one-day and stage races and was ranked number 1 in the 1990s...

. 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 girl's 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 pursuit
Pursuit
Pursuit may refer to:In aircraft:*Rans S-11 Pursuit, lifting body style light aircraft designIn cars:*Pontiac G5, formerly called Pontiac PursuitIn film and television:*Pursuit , a 1950s anthology...

 championship in 1997. His uncle, Philippe Raby, a former rider in the Vendée
Vendée
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...

 region, recommended him to Jean-René Bernardeau 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
Maine-et-Loire is a department in west-central France, in the Pays de la Loire region.- History :Maine-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Originally it was called Mayenne-et-Loire, but its name was changed to Maine-et-Loire in 1791....

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

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
Tour de l'Avenir
Tour de l'Avenir is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents. Riders competed in national teams...

 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
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...

 and rode 217 km 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
Denis Menchov
Denis Nikolayevich Menchov , born 25 January 1978 in Oryol, is a professional Russian road bicycle racer for . He is a general classification rider and a climber. In 2005 he won the Vuelta a España, which he won for a second time in 2007...

 and Florent Brard
Florent Brard
Florent Brard is a retired French road bicycle racer. He won three national championships, including the professional road race. He became a professional in 1999 and stopped racing in November 2009 after not finding a place in a team.-Childhood:Florent Brard was born into a cycling family...

. In 2002 he won the Quatre Jours de Dunkerque and finished third in the Tour of Belgium
Tour of Belgium
The Tour of Belgium is a four-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium.It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Between 1982 and 1990 several of races were not organised and none at all during the decade 1991 to 2001...

.

On 25 July 2008 Chavanel won the 19th stage of the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

 by outsprinting Jérémy Roy
Jérémy Roy
Jérémy Roy is a French professional road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team . He was named the most aggressive rider of the 2011 Tour de France after escaping into breakaways on many stages and continuiously attacking from inside the breakaway.-Biography:Roy turned professional...

 at Montluçon
Montluçon
Montluçon is a commune in central France. It is the largest commune in the Allier department, although the department's préfecture is located in the smaller town of Moulins. Its inhabitants are known as Montluçonnais...

. That and other performances brought him election as the most combative rider of the race.

On 3 September 2008, he came second in the time-trial stage of the Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...

 at Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real is a city in Castile-La Mancha, Spain, with a population of c. 74,000. It is the capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It has a stop on the AVE high-speed rail line and has begun to grow as a long-distance commuter suburb of Madrid, located 115 miles to the north. A high capacity...

. His ride brought him to second place overall, two seconds slower than the American, Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...

. His team worked for him next day from Ciudad Real to Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...

 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.

During the 2010 Tour de France
2010 Tour de France
The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996...

, Chavanel took over the yellow jersey after attacking at the 10 km mark. Following a series of crashes to the GC riders on the descent into Spa, Chavanel opened up enough of a gap to win the stage and capture the yellow jersey. The following stage was not so good for Chavanel as two punctures on the cobbled roads meant Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...

 re-took the yellow jersey, however on the Tour's first mountain stage from Tournus
Tournus
Tournus is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.-Geography:Tournus is located on the right bank of the Saône, 20 km. northeast of Mâcon on the Paris-Lyon railway.-Sights:...

 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 Espana
2011 Vuelta a España
The 2011 Vuelta a España was held from 20 August to 11 September. The race began in Benidorm with a team time trial and ended, as is traditional, in Madrid. The 2011 Vuelta was the 66th edition of the race and was the first Vuelta in 33 years that visited the Basque Country...

 Chavanel held the red leaders jersey for four stages. On stage three, as part of a breakaway, he finished second behind Pablo Lastras
Pablo Lastras
Pablo Lastras García is a Spanish racing cyclist who rides for Spanish UCI ProTour team .Lastras won a stage in the 2003 Tour de France and picked up two stages in the 2002 Vuelta a España. In 2005 he won stage 8 at Tour de Suisse. He also won the Vuelta a Burgos in 2003. His idols are Bernard...

 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
Joaquim Rodríguez
Joaquim Rodríguez Oliver is a Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He has been competing since 2001, and currently rides for the UCI ProTour team .- Palmarès :2001...

.

Moving to Belgium

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
Patrick Lefévère
Patrick Lefevere is the Belgian cycling team manager of the Quick Step-Innergetic cycling team. He is from Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of the north. He was a professional racer from 1976 to 1979, winning Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne and the fourth stage in the Vuelta a España, both in 1978...

 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
Dwars door Vlaanderen
Dwars door Vlaanderen is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race. Traditionally, it is the start of the Flemish cycling week, with Gent–Wevelgem , the Three Days of De Panne and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Dwars door Vlaanderen has always been contested on a Wednesday, a week and a half before the...

 and the Brabantse Pijl
Brabantse Pijl
The Brabantse Pijl is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race held annually in Flemish Brabant, Belgium. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2011, it was upgraded to a 1.HC event...

. 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.

Major achievements

2001
6th Overall Tour de Picardie
Tour de Picardie
The Tour de Picardie is a professional multi-stage cycle road race held annually in Picardy, France. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour....


2002
1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
Four Days of Dunkirk
The Four Days of Dunkirk is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Confusingly, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has usually been held over a 5 or 6 day period. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe...

1st Trophée des Grimpeurs
Trophée des Grimpeurs
The Trophée des Grimpeurs, called Polymultipliée until 1970, is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in August in the region of Val-d'Oise, France, between Argenteuil and Sannois. Between 1980 and 2002 it was a criterium...

2nd Overall Tour du Poitou Charentes et de la Vienne
3rd Overall Tour de Belgique

2003
1st Overall Tour du Haut Var
Tour du Haut Var
The Tour du Haut Var is an early-season two-day road bicycle race in the Provence region of France. From 2005 to 2008, it was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2009, the race was changed to a two-day 2.1 event.-Palmarès:...

1st Stage 4 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe et Pays de la Loire
2nd Tour du Poitou Charentes et de la Vienne
2nd A travers le Morbihan
3rd Overall Tour Méditerranéen
Tour Méditerranéen
Tour Méditerranéen is a professional road bicycle racing event held in southern France along the Mediterranean Sea. The Tour Méditerranéen is a five-day stage race that began in 1974 and since 2005 has been a part of the UCI Europe Tour as a 2.1 event...


2004
1st Overall Tour of Belgium
Tour of Belgium
The Tour of Belgium is a four-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium.It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Between 1982 and 1990 several of races were not organised and none at all during the decade 1991 to 2001...

1st Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
Four Days of Dunkirk
The Four Days of Dunkirk is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Confusingly, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has usually been held over a 5 or 6 day period. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe...

1st Overall Tour du Poitou Charentes et de la Vienne
1st Stage 3
1st Stage 4
1st Polynormande
Polynormande
The Polynormande is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in August in the region of Normandy, France. Between 1980 and 2002 it was a criterium. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour, also being part of the French Road Cycling Cup.- Winners :...


2005
1st National Time Trial Champion
1st Overall Tour du Poitou Charentes et de la Vienne
1st Overall Circuit Cycliste Sarthe et Pays de la Loire
1st Stage 5
1st Duo Normand
Duo Normand
The Duo Normand is a two-man team time trial for elite racing cyclists. Held annually in Normandy, France, it was instituted in 1982. Launched by a local cycling association, the Duo Normand takes place on a road circuit of more than every September...

 (with Thierry Marichal
Thierry Marichal
Thierry Marichal is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer.- Palmarès :* Duo Normand * Bayern-Rundfahrt - 1 stage * Circuit Franco-Belge - 1 stage...

)
9th Overall Tour de Pologne
Tour de Pologne
The Tour de Pologne is a road bicycle racing stage race. It consists of seven or eight stages and is usually around 1,200 km in length. The race was first held in 1928. Until 1952 the race was held sporadically, but since then it has been an annual race...


2006
1st National Time Trial Champion
1st Tour du Poitou-Charentes et de la Vienne
7th Overall Paris–Corrèze

2007
3rd Overall Trophée des Grimpeurs
Trophée des Grimpeurs
The Trophée des Grimpeurs, called Polymultipliée until 1970, is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in August in the region of Val-d'Oise, France, between Argenteuil and Sannois. Between 1980 and 2002 it was a criterium...

4th Overall Critérium International
Critérium International
The Critérium International is a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932....

10th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
16th Overall Vuelta a España
2007 Vuelta a España
The 2007 Vuelta a España, the sixty-second edition of the cycle race, took place from September 1 until September 23, 2007. For the first time in a decade, the race started in the region of Galicia, at Vigo, home to Óscar Pereiro, with a flat stage...


2008
1st National Time Trial Champion
1st Stage 19 Tour de France
2008 Tour de France
The 2008 Tour de France was the 95th Tour de France. The event took place from 5–27 July 2008. Starting in the French city of Brest, the tour entered Italy on the 15th stage and returned to France during the 16th, heading for Paris, its regular final destination, which was reached in the 21st stage...

Combativity award
Winner super combativity award
1st Dwars door Vlaanderen
Dwars door Vlaanderen
Dwars door Vlaanderen is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race. Traditionally, it is the start of the Flemish cycling week, with Gent–Wevelgem , the Three Days of De Panne and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Dwars door Vlaanderen has always been contested on a Wednesday, a week and a half before the...

1st Brabantse Pijl
Brabantse Pijl
The Brabantse Pijl is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race held annually in Flemish Brabant, Belgium. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2011, it was upgraded to a 1.HC event...

1st Stage 7 Paris - Nice
1st Stage 5 Tour Méditerranéen
Tour Méditerranéen
Tour Méditerranéen is a professional road bicycle racing event held in southern France along the Mediterranean Sea. The Tour Méditerranéen is a five-day stage race that began in 1974 and since 2005 has been a part of the UCI Europe Tour as a 2.1 event...

1st Stage 4 Volta a Catalunya
2008 Volta a Catalunya
The 2008 Volta a Catalunya road cycling race took place from May 19 to May 25, 2008 in Catalonia, Spain. Gustavo César took overall victory, becoming first rider of non-ProTour team to win a ProTour race general classification....

2nd Overall Volta ao Algarve
Volta ao Algarve
The Volta ao Algarve is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in the Algarve, Portugal. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Due to its early February position in the European calendar, it is used by many riders to prepare for the Spring...


2009
2nd Overall Tour of Benelux
1st Prologue
2nd Overall Volta ao Algarve
Volta ao Algarve
The Volta ao Algarve is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in the Algarve, Portugal. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Due to its early February position in the European calendar, it is used by many riders to prepare for the Spring...

2nd Stage 4
3rd Overall Paris–Nice
1st Points Classification
1st Stage 3
5th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
The E3 Harelbeke is an annual cycling race in the Flanders area of Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke over 210 kilometres. The event is organised by the Hand in Hand Cycling Club of Harelbeke and is ranked 1.HC on the UCI Continental calendar....

7th Dwars door Vlaanderen
Dwars door Vlaanderen
Dwars door Vlaanderen is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race. Traditionally, it is the start of the Flemish cycling week, with Gent–Wevelgem , the Three Days of De Panne and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Dwars door Vlaanderen has always been contested on a Wednesday, a week and a half before the...

8th Paris–Roubaix
9th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne

2010
1st Stage 2 Tour de France
2010 Tour de France
The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996...

1st Stage 7 Tour de France
2010 Tour de France
The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996...

Held Maillot Jaune on Stage 2 and Stage 7
Held Maillot vert on Stage 2
Combativity award Stage 2
Winner super combativity award

2011
1st National Road Race Champion
2nd Tour of Flanders
2011 Tour of Flanders
The 2011 Tour of Flanders cycle race was the 95th edition of this monumental classic and took place on 3 April. The course was long and was held between Brugge and Ninove. The race was won by Nick Nuyens ahead of Sylvain Chavanel and Fabian Cancellara....

4th Overall Three Days of De Panne
2011 Three Days of De Panne
The 2011 Three Days of De Panne was the 35th edition of the Three Days of De Panne, an annual bicycle race. Taking part in and around the De Panne region of West Flanders, it began in Middelkerke on 29 March and finished in De Panne two days later. The 538.7 km long stage race compromised of four...

Held
Vuelta a España
2011 Vuelta a España
The 2011 Vuelta a España was held from 20 August to 11 September. The race began in Benidorm with a team time trial and ended, as is traditional, in Madrid. The 2011 Vuelta was the 66th edition of the race and was the first Vuelta in 33 years that visited the Basque Country...

Red Jersey from stages 4-7

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK