Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) won a record fifth French National TT Championship on Thursday, setting impressive times at every checkpoint and finishing fastest by more than two minutes.

Chavanel passed the 9km point with the fastest time (10'42"), and then passed the second intermediate point faster than Jeremy Roy (FDJ) by 1'58". Chavanel finished 2'01" ahead of Roy, and 2'20" ahead of Johan Le Bon (FDJ) at the end of the 45.5km time trial.

Chavanel also won French National TT Championships in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2012. He will wear his fifth tri-colored National Champion jersey for the first time at the Tour de France, which begins in eight days.

"Today [Thursday] everything was perfect," Chavanel said. "Everything was as I liked. It was raining, and I like these kinds of conditions. The parcour was flat but with a few false flat sections. This suits me perfectly. For me I understood immediately that it was a good day. I pushed as much as I could to win the race. For me it is a dream to once again wear this jersey for the time trials of the Tour de France. It's a pleasure to ride with the jersey in front of the French public. But the most important thing is in the last few days I found the good sensation. At the Critérium du Dauphiné I wasn't really so good, but I didn't panic. I was relaxed. To be honest last Sunday I did a long period of training, and understood things were going well. I'm really happy and will try to focus my attention on the race on Sunday. I will do my best for a good race."