Chavanel repeats as French Time Trial champion

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Sylvain Chavanel of Omega Pharma-Quick Step has become the first man crowned the French champion for the individual time trial five times since the title was implemented in 1995. Upon winning the 2012 time trial title, Chavanel had equalled the record of Eddy Seigneur with four championships each. With victories in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2012, Chavanel returned today and literally smashed the opposition on the 45.5km course from Kernilis to Lannilis on the northern part of Brittany near the English Channel. With eleven kilometers to go, he even passed Jérémy Roy (FDJ), who started two minutes before him and ended up in second place for the second year in a row.

"I came to this race with confidence even though I had some ups and downs during the Dauphiné," Chavanel said. "But I didn't imagine that I could overtake Jérémy. From the gun, I felt that I was going well. Here are the kind of roads that I like very much, with low gradients and a lot of false flat sections. On top of each of them, I was able to put a bigger gear. I had a directeur sportif, Rik van Slycke, who was helping me a lot from the car."

Roy, however, was far from enjoying a second silver medal in a row. "Last year, I had some regrets because I lost by only twelve seconds," the runner-up said. "This time I've got fewer regrets, but I'm extremely disappointed. I felt humiliation when Chavanel passed me because I came here for the title. I wasn't on a very good day. I might have not recovered from the Tour de Suisse, but anyway, we've all been beaten by a great Sylvain today."

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The bronze medal was earned by up-and-coming rider Johan Le Bon, the 2009 junior world champion for road racing and the French time trial champion in the U23 category for the past two years. The 22-year-old FDJ rider finished 19 seconds behind his teammate Roy and 2:20 down on Chavanel.

"It's a big surprise for me to stand on the podium," said Le Bon, who is a local rider in Brittany. "Last year I finished 11th, so my goal was to make the top 10 today. To have ridden the Giro has helped me to improve a lot."

Jérôme Coppel (Cofidis), who scored the fourth best time at 2:31, and Jean-Christophe Péraud (AG2R-La Mondiale), sixth at 2:40, were expected to do better. Not only did FDJ put two riders on the podium but they placed four of them in the top-seven with Sandy Casar showing a return to form after he heard that he won't ride the Tour de France this year. Geniez, 7th, is one of the new climbers set to ride alongside Thibaut Pinot.

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