Sylvain Chavanel will ride 12 cyclo-cross races this winter as he prepares to make his debut in IAM colours in 2014. Claiming that ages requires him to shorten his breaks, he will keep fit in regional off-road races while he will start his serious road training later in November

Sylvain Chavanel is preparing himself for a change in 2014 when he will leave the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team after 5 years to join forces with the IAM team. At 34 years of age, he is looking for more freedom in the classics and will get his chance to be a leader in the Swiss squad.

With age, he has been forced to change his winter training and this year he will try his hand in cyclo-cross racing which he did a lot earlier in his career. He rode his first race last weekend in Buxerolles, finishing 8th while fellow road and established cyclo-cross rider John Gadret took the win.

He plans to ride 12 races during the winter season to avoid the lengthy breaks that he had when he was younger.

“I used to take five or six weeks off the bike but with age I have to keep going," he told La Nouvelle Republique. "I now take micro-breaks and keep fit by playing tennis or going running.

“I did a lot cyclo-cross at the beginning of my career and got back into it last year. My body has become a diesel engine with age and takes time to power up. In cyclo-cross, you’re ‘à bloc’ from the start and that means you work at a high pace.”

This weekend he will return to competition in Vouneil-sous-Biard which will double as the regional championships. While he is mostly using the races to prepare for his road targets, he can't hide his competitive instinct.

“I hope to ride a dozen races during the winter. My forms not great and I’ll be racing in Vouneuil to work on it. But I like to compete and so why not aim for the title? My son Baptiste, who is nine in December, is also making his racing debut.”

Chavanel is one of several new signings for IAM that should allow the team to get invited to the biggest races, most notably the Tour de France. With the team being reliant on wild card invitations, he can't draw up a definitive schedule at the moment but it would be a surprise not to see the Frenchman riding most of the big ASO races.

He will start his serious road training later this month and plans to return to competition in the GP la Marseillaise on November 20. Traditionally, his first season objective has been the Paris-Nice where he is a multiple stage winner and past podium finisher.

“I’m going to start doing four hour rides from November 20th, with blocks of three days,” he said.

Chavanel ended his season in the Chrono des Nations where he was third behind teammate Tony Martin and Gustav Erik Larsson.