Sylvain Chavanel took his sixth title in today's French time trial championships but this time he faced a great rival in Anthony Roux who was only beaten by 17 seconds. The Frenchman was pleased to see the gap getting narrowed and now hopes to continue his improvement.

In 2012 and 2013, Sylvain Chavanel started his most recent string of wins in the French time trial championships and in both years his nearest rival was Jeremy Roy. When he won today's 2014 edition of the championships, he was again challenged by an FDJ rider but this time his biggest rival was Anthony Roux.

Roux did one of the best time trials of his career to finish just 17 seconds off Chavanel's winning time and no less than a minute ahead of Maxime Bouet in third. The FDJ rider admitted his rival's superiority but drew a lot of positive conclusions from the fact that the gap is getting narrower.

"This is a time trial where I didn't win but this is one of my best," he said. "Every year I put a lot of pressure on myself for the French championships and this time everything went well. It was a course that required power and where you constantly had to remain in the TT position and stay focused.

"I made no mistakes and the result reflects reality. Chavanel was the strongest although the gap has become smaller. I gave everything, I did not fade towards the end and I'm pleased with this performance even though I was only focused on the win. We still have to make progress in the preparation and equipement but this is encouraging."