Heads to rival French team for 2011
Steve Chainel has decided to move over from BBox Bouygues Telecom to rival French team Française des Jeux next season. The former cyclo-cross rider moved up to the ProTour last season following two years with the Auber 93 squad, and will now remain with Française des Jeux for at least the next two seasons.
Following his first year on BBox Bouygues Telecom, where his best result was fourth place in a stage at the Tour of Poland, Chainel has had his first big successes this spring. He finished fourth in the Dwars door Vlaanderen and followed it up with a win in the opening stage of the Driedaagse de Panne-Koksijde, which also earned him the race’s first leader’s jersey. His most recent result was fourth place in stage one of the Critérium du Dauphiné.
The absence of Chainel from the Bbox Bouygues Telecom line-up won’t be good news for a team that looked to be building their team for Classics success.