Sylvain Chavanel again proved that he is one of the in-form riders at the moment when he finished 2nd behind Bradley Wiggins in the London time trial on the final day of the Tour of Britain. The result moved him into 7th overall and set him up for a great showing at the Worlds.

IAM Cycling finished the Tour of Britain in style.  Through the streets of London, Sylvain Chavanel succeeded in finishing a close 2nd place just 8 seconds behind Bradley Wiggins in the morning half-stage 8.8 kilometer time trial.  His performance pushed Chavanel up to 7th place in the overall classification. 

In the late afternoon circuit race around London, Chavanel, who is the current French time trial champion, also managed a 12th place in the sprint finish which was characteristically won by Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano).  And as a team, IAM Cycling had another proud moment on the podium since the Swiss Pro Continental squad was awarded the best team competition, finishing 2’27” ahead of Tinkoff-Saxo.

Before returning home to recuperate for the world championships, Sylvain Chavanel did not try to hide his satisfaction in his performance. 

“It was a great Tour of Britain on all levels.  This morning, I finished 2nd to Wiggins on a flat course that did not suit me particularly well.  Then I finished 12th in the sprint finish and finally 7th in the general classification.  And to top it off, the team won two stages, which cannot be overly praised.  To win the team classification proves we were not relying on just one rider to perform.  I am really a happy man, and IAM Cycling succeeded in living up to its reputation.”

Eddy Seigneur, directeur sportif along with Kjell Carlström, savored his week in Britain. 

“Today Sylvain Chavanel hit just a little snag.  He ripped up the course to win the stage, but Wiggins found just that little bit extra to grab the victory away.  But Sylvain’s 2nd place in the stage and 7th overall are encouraging results in view of what is still to come, such as Worlds, but also races near the end of the season.  

"Personally, I am most delighted by our victory in the team classification in the face of top WorldTour competition.  This proves that we have found ways to be present every day with at least three riders excellently placed. 

"The cherry on the cake of course is the fact that we won two stages thanks to Matthias Brändle.  One would have to be very choosy not to be satisfied with a performance like this at the Tour of Britain.”