Sébastien Chavanel signs for FDJ.fr

Image 1 of 2

Sébastien Chavanel has signed for FDJ.fr for the 2014 season, where he will serve as lead-out man to former French champion Nacer Bouhanni. Chavanel returns to the team after spending the past three years with Team Europcar.

“It’s gratifying when you do your job and another rider pays attention to it. Nacer has wanted me with him all year, I’m not going to disappointment him,” Chavanel told La Nouvelle Republique.

Chavanel has signed a one-year deal with FDJ.fr and rejoins a team that had deemed him surplus to requirements at the end of the 2010 season. The 33-year-old spent four seasons with Marc Madiot’s squad, winning the French Cup in his first year in 2007.

“I’m showing once again that I can bounce back. When FDJ didn’t keep me in 2010, I understood the strategy of the team and I wasn’t angry with anyone,” said Chavanel. “And now again, I’m leaving Europcar on good terms.”

Chavanel only victory during his time with Europcar – his second spell with Jean-René Bernaudeau’s squad – came on a stage of the Circuit de Lorraine in 2011 and he struggled for form during the past year, but he is keen on the idea of performing a very specific task at an FDJ.fr team that also boasts a burgeoning sprint talent in Arnaud Démare.

“I’m still worth a place in the peloton and I’m going to show that,” Chavanel said.