The international field is on gearing up for the new season, mostly in Spain. This is the time of new kits, great intentions and programs to be made. It's also time for some to get some fresh air. One of them is 36-year-old Sylvain Chavanel who has won 43 races during his great career. After two years at IAM, Chavanel will return to the roots as he joins the Direct Energi team of manager Jean-Rene Bernaudeau with whom he turned professional.

However, it was not Chavanel’s own decision to leave IAM. He was told that his contract would not be renewed.

”In 2013 I had signed a contract for two seasons with an option for an additional year which IAM did not wish to honor,” he tells Velopro.net in an interview. “When I made the announcement, I thought that nobody would decide the time of my retirement for me. At IAM, I did not have the best two years of my career but I do not want to criticize anybody. It is a beautiful team that did not want to keep me but I have no resentment or any sense of unfinished business. I am pleased to have brought them a victory in the World Tour (he won the Grand Prix de Plouay in 2014, ed.), a national title (in the time trial in 2014, ed.) and a stage race (Tour of Poitou-Charentes in 2014, ed.). Nobody can take that away from me.”

Chavanel sometimes appeared to be worried about his future but he refuses that his career was in doubt.

"No, I was not [worried] and I think I made the best choice by joining Bernaudeau,” he says. “He was the man who got me started so it is a return to square one. I have been in contact with other teams, but I sent a text message to Jean-René in January to tell him that I wanted to come back. I also told him that I coud perhaps be used to find a buyer for his team.”
 

Chavanel had hoped to return to make a rare appearance in the team pursuit at the Olympics but he has now had to change his plans.

“Yes, [that was the intention] but it is undermined by the very good results of the team of the Netherlands in the World Cup,” he says. “France has no place for the moment.
 

”I still have plans on the track. The Hour Record and the French record of 4.16 in the individual pursuit which is held by Francis Moreau. We also have the European Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. For the World Championships, it seems impossible because it is just before Paris-Nice, a race where I have 5 or 6 top 10 results, which is close to my heart and where I want to shine.”

Chavanel is still motivated despite being 36 years of age.
 

“I'm not brand new and did not start from scratch,” he says. “I feel the weight of years. I need more time to recover, to find the condition and I adapt myself by working more. I'll start my 17th professional season. I have become a bit of a diesel engine. I lack the punch but I'm working. Having been on the track in late 2015 helped me to work on my punch and cadence. For years, I have used big gears and on a bike with fixed gear, I have to keep a cadence of 120-130. It makes me feel good.”

The track may be a novelty in Chavanel’s schedule but his goals for the road have not changed.
 

“It will be the usual ones, mainly the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix and the Grand Prix E3 in Harelbeke if we will do that race. Het Nieuwsblad always comes a little too early for me. Now it takes me a lot of races to get a good feeling but I like the atmosphere of the Belgian races. As soon as I cross the border by car, I feel excited. This kind of cycling suits me, more than the Tour de France where I am limited in the high mountains. I cannot fight against those I call the weaklings. Apart from Thibaut Pinot who has more muscles, the other climbers are skinny. '' There are still stages for attackers but it is only for the spectacle: how many stages are won by attackers?”

However, he still plans to return to the French grand tour.
 

“Because I have done fifteen and I'm not very far from the record of Jens Voigt (17),” he says when asked about his return. “Because I was born in Chatellerault and the Tour will pass that city during stage Saumur-Limoges. I have a desire to do well there.”
 

In the last part of the season, Chavanel targets the Hour Record. 

”My team is built,” he says. “I am still in doubt whether I will ride in the velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines or in Bordeaux. I have to talk to the federation. I have thought about it since October. I will devote myself to regular tests, mainly after stage races to get the ability to maintain an effort for one hour. You should note that I will not try to break the record of Bradley Wiggins. It is untouchable but I will try to do the best possible, to go as far as possible. And I will use these tests to try to beat the French individual pursuit record.
 

“I love what I do, my passion and enthusiasm are intact. I like the cycling world. I had five great years at QuickStep and more difficult years, including at Cofidis. Over the years, I have matured and what keeps me hppy is the family balance that I have built.”

However, he knows that he has to deliver something back to his new team.
 

“Bernadeau logically expects good results and that I share my experience with the young people.
 

”The team has changed but it works better. The model has remained the same with the Vendée U reserve team that provides new young riders each year. This is a family structure and that's what I wanted too. I need to feel welcome and to be calm to get results.”
 

The team leader is Bryan Coquard but it remains to be seen whether Chavanel will play a role in his lead-out train.

“We will speak about that,” he says. “Of course I will work for him but I will not take unnecessary risks. I'm not able to be there in the last 500 meters and turn off the brain but I can protect him from the wind. I will also be very happy to lemd a hand to Romain Sicard, to position him at the bottom of a climb for example.”

In any case, Chavanel is not ready to retire yet.
 

“No, I signed for two years and I do not know when I'll stop,” he says. “I could very well do like Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle and win my first classic at 41 years of age.”