Sébastien Chavanel will join the Europcar team on a one-year contract, which sees him return to the team where his career began. The 29-year-old sprinter, who is the younger brother of Quick Step rider Sylvain Chavanel, was rumoured to have been about to join his brother; nothing came of the deal though, and he has signed with Jean-René Bernadeau’s team.
“This is a true return to source for the sprinter formed at Vendée U and who passed through Brioches-la-Boulangère and Bouygues Telecom until 2007,” said the team’s statement. His arrival is a straight swap for William Bonnet, who transferred in the opposite direction; it should serve as some consolation for the loss of Pierrick Fédrigo and Steve Chainel, who have also left for FDJ.
Chavanel raced as an espoir for the Vendée U team, the feeder team to Bonjour (the original incarnation of Europcar), before turning professional with the team as it became Brioches-la-Boulangère in 2003. He remained with the team as it became Bouygues Telecom in 2005, but left to join Française des Jeux in 2007.
In recent year’s Chavanel’s best results include the Grand Prix de Denain and the season-long Coupe de France competition in 2007, and a stage and the overall classification of the 2008 Tour de Picardie. This season he has taken a number of top-five places and finished tenth in Sunday’s Paris-Tours, the sprinters’ classic.