Among the young riders to follow next season, there will be Clément Chevrier. This French rider, after an experiment on American soil with the Bissell Pro Cycling, will ride in 2015 for the Swiss training IAM Cycling. Having performed well in 2014, he knows he is expected, but he has a lot to learn. He accepted to share an interview with CyclingQuotes in order to talk about his 2014 season and the next year.

At first, he come back on this winter and his activities. "The holidays are over for a couple of weeks now. After 3 weeks of rest, where I could enjoy my family and my friends, I resumed the training and I am already turned to 2015", he explained.

"I resumed the training on November 1st. The winter is a pretty fun time. I try to vary up the activities and fill some gaps to prepare for the next season. I used to do mountain biking, swimming, roller skating, walks in the mountains. I also focus on many exercises to gain muscle in the gym. The goal is to build the foundations for the season in a fun way."

This season, the French guy participated at his first race during the Tour of Gila. He finished 12th at the overall classification. But the main goal was to be competitive for the Tour of California. "The Tour of Gila served as preparation for the Tour of California, the first big goal of this season. With this big rivalry at this Tour of California, I had not set myself specific results. The aim was to discover the level and take some experience. And I knew that with the few days of racing in the legs at the start, it would be difficult to spar with the best riders at the front. However, this was a very good experience and it will remain one of my best memories on the bike. This state is like running: beautiful."

Despite promising results, the rider from Amiens is not completely satisfied. "This season, I have some regrets. The Tour des Pays de Savoie was my second goal of the season but unfortunately, I took the start with more than a month without racing and a bad allergy. These are the risks but I am disappointed. On the whole season, I regretted the lack of racing days to prepare my goals."

In 2014, he raced the Tour of Gila (12th at the overall), Amgen Tour of California (24th), the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah (19th) and USA Pro Challenge (12th and 1st at the youth classification). He has a small experience of American races and he compares them to the European races. "The level is about the same because the squad consists mainly of European riders. The difference is in the nervousness of races. In the US, the straight roads are mostly without roundabouts, speed bumps, etc. The high altitude of USA Pro Challenge also changes the way to run compared to the European races."

"I never doubted about the bet that I launched me to discover the American adventure. I really wanted to discover another way to practice my sport to progress physically and humanly. Learning English is also important for my business studies. And then people and experiences encountered on US soil always comforted me in my choice. It is an experience that was good sportingly and humanly."

During the Tour of Utah, he had the chance to ride with the German Jens Voigt, a nice guy according Chevrier. "It was a privilege to share his last pedal strokes with him. This is an exceptional person. He transmits his joy of living in a group. At the Tour of Utah, I had the chance to be "protected" by Jens and therefore benefit from his experience and tips for managing a week of competition. To my delight, he continued to advise me during the USA Pro Challenge while we did not wear the same jersey. A high-class rider."

Although he was an intern in the Trek Factory Racing squad, he was not hired by this American team. Finally, he is committed with a Swiss team : IAM Cycling. "Trek Factory Racing was quickly announced that its roster down to 26 riders and therefore it would be difficult to hire me. Despite the door was not completely closed with the possibility of finding a new sponsor to increase the number of riders. Besides Trek, I talked to some teams. Mainly foreign. My wish was to remain abroad after the American experience so as to continue to improve my English and others. I chose IAM Cycling for its project and the evolving of its sports group (staff and riders) where I think I can bring my qualities. I am sure that the team will give me a lot for my development. The service is located near Chambéry, my place of residence."

"I am close to Eddy Seigneur, the sports director. He is Picard like me and he coached me in junior. As for the riders, I know a little bit Jérôme Coppel who joined the team in 2015."

He returned to training, but he does not yet know his program for 2015. "I do not know my program. We talked with staff members and we have in mind to achieve a great ride for the experience and my progress. I also discover the Ardennes classics. The goal is to physically progress on these top-level races to try to get more concrete results on smaller races."