Chavanel wins GP Ouest France-Plouay

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Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) won the GP Ouest France-Plouay held on Sunday in France. The Frenchman won the WorldTour race ahead of Italy's Andrea Fedi (Neri Sottoli-Yellow Fluo) and compatriot Arthur Vichot (FDJ.fr).

Chavanel won the race from a select group of seven riders that launched off the front of the field on the final climb of the 235km race. He waited patiently for the final few hundred meters before timing his sprint to perfection and crossing the line with the win.

It was a successful week for Chavanel, who recently won the overall title at the five-stage Tour du Poitou-Charentes that ended on Friday in Poitiers.

“It’s great. I honestly didn’t think I’d win because I was sure the race would end in a sprint,” Chavanel said. 

“I’d decided not to make any big efforts and to wait for the final three laps and then ride a smart race. It’s been a fantastic week for me. I won on my local roads at the Tour du Poitou-Charentes and then the GP Ouest-France.”

Chavanel’s breakaway companions included Fedi and Vichot, who were also on the podium, along with Cyril Gauthier (Europcar), Julian Alaphilippe (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol) and Ben Hermans (BMC).

The main field nearly caught the winning breakaway but was just two seconds short. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) took the sprint for eighth place.

After racing at the Tour of Britain, which is coming up from September 7 to 14, Chavanel will likely compete in both time trial and the road race at the world championships held from September 21 to 28 in Ponferrada, Spain.

“Why not?” Chavanel said in a UCI press release. “Now I’m going to ride the Tour of Britain without any pressure and then spend some time at home. I’m motivated.”

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), who is competing at the Vuelta a España, is currently leading the WorldTour ranking with a total of 462 points. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), also at the Vuelta, is second with 407 points and Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) is third with 392 points.

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