Chrono des Nations

Chrono des Nations is a men's individual time trial, a bike race against the clock, held each October in Les Herbiers, western France. One of the last standalone time trial events on the international calendar, it has served as a season-closing benchmark for specialists since its founding in 1982.

The Chrono des Nations is an individual time trial for professional men, raced each October on a circuit out of Les Herbiers, in the Vendée in western France. It is the last race in a day of time trials there. The riders start two minutes apart, and the winner is back in a little over 50 minutes.

Christian Tessier’s amateur time trial of 1982

Christian Tessier, a local cycling enthusiast, organized the first race in 1982. About twenty amateurs started from the ramp, and the Englishman Gary Dowdell won. Another Englishman, David Akam, won in 1983, and Patrice Esnault became the first French winner in 1984.

In 1995 the race, then called the Chrono des Herbiers, joined the professional calendar, and France held its first national time trial championship that year, also at Les Herbiers. Pascal Lance won the 1995 race, his fourth after 1987, 1988 and 1994, and through 2025 nobody has matched that total.

Is the Chrono des Nations the old Grand Prix des Nations?

No, the two are different races. The Grand Prix des Nations was a time trial created in 1932 and treated as the unofficial world championship of the discipline, with Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault among its winners. It lost ground after the UCI created a world time trial championship in 1994, and ASO stopped it.

In 2006 the Chrono des Herbiers took over the Nations name. Cyclingnews reported in 2005 that the renamed race would be organized in partnership with ASO but run by the same local committee. The organizer’s list of winners still begins with Dowdell in 1982 and carries no edition of the older race.

David Millar breaks 59 minutes on the unofficial road hour record

For years the course was about 48 kilometers long, and the winner’s time fell close to one hour. Cyclingnews wrote in 2005 that the race was known as the unofficial road hour record. The best time then was Jean Nüttli’s 59 minutes 45 seconds from 2001. Ondřej Sosenka, who had set the world hour record that July, won in 2005 in 1 hour and 18 seconds.

László Bodrogi lowered the mark to 59 minutes 18 seconds in 2007. Alexandre Vinokourov won in 2009, the day after he rode the Giro di Lombardia. A headwind blew near the end, and he missed Bodrogi’s time by 51 seconds. In 2010 David Millar finished in 58 minutes 53 seconds, the first rider under 59 minutes on the course, with a strong headwind over the last ten kilometers. In 2011 Tony Martin won over 48.5 kilometers in 56 minutes 20 seconds. It was the first of his three wins in a row.

The circuit through Saint-Paul-en-Pareds and Mouchamps

The length of the race has changed often. Martin’s third win, in 2013, was over 57.03 kilometers, the races from 2014 to 2016 over about 51.5, and those of 2018 and 2019 over 46.3. From 2022 to 2024 the circuit measured 45.43 kilometers, and in 2025 it was 44.87.

The start ramp is in front of the town hall and the finish on the Place de la Gare, where the event moved in 2007. The circuit in the road book passes the first time check at Saint-Paul-en-Pareds after 10.5 kilometers, then loops through Le Boupère, Saint-Prouant and Rochetrejoux to Mouchamps, where the second check stands a little over 10 kilometers from the finish. The road book’s profile reaches its lowest point just before Mouchamps and rises again toward Les Herbiers. ProCyclingStats counts 346 meters of climbing on the 2025 course.

Stefan Küng’s three wins in four editions

In 2019 Jos van Emden beat Filippo Ganna by 11 seconds and Primož Roglič, the world number one at the time, by 19. The 2020 race was canceled because of the pandemic.

Stefan Küng won in 2021, 36 seconds ahead of Martin Toft Madsen, the winner of 2017 and 2018. In 2022 he met Tobias Foss, who had beaten him to the world title by three seconds a month before. Foss was fastest at the mid-race check. Küng, the last rider on the road, sprinted out of the saddle on the finishing straight and won by two seconds. In 2024 he was one second behind Jay Vine at the first check and seven ahead at the second, and he won by four. That third win put him level with Martin and with Serhiy Honchar, who won from 1997 to 1999.

Josh Tarling beats Remco Evenepoel at 19

Josh Tarling had won the junior race at Les Herbiers in 2022. A year later, at 19 and as European champion, he rode the elite race against Remco Evenepoel, the world champion. Tarling was the only rider under 13 minutes at the first check, with Evenepoel 10 seconds behind. The gap grew to 17 seconds at the second check, and Tarling won by 13. “I was fighting against the wind, and riders weighing 80 kilos do that slightly better while I get pushed from left to right,” Evenepoel told Het Laatste Nieuws, as quoted by Cyclingnews.

In 2025 Tarling won again. He led Küng by 19 seconds after 10.5 kilometers and Vine by 41 at the second check, and finished 30 seconds ahead of Vine, with Küng third. His average of 52.58 kilometers per hour was the fastest in the race’s history, according to Cyclingnews.

In 2023 Josh Tarling, 19 years old, beat world champion Remco Evenepoel by 13 seconds. Stefan Küng won in 2022 by two seconds, sprinting out of the saddle to the line, and in 2024 by four. Tarling won again in 2025 at 52.58 kilometers per hour, the fastest average of any edition through that year.