As an amateur, Chaves was the winner of the French Tour de l'Avenir race in 2011, a race previously won by five future winners of the Tour de France. Chaves had been part of the breakaway on the first road stage of the race, taking the mountains jersey after the stage. He surrendered that lead to Garikoitz Bravo the next day, but reclaimed the lead on the third stage, having led the field over the Grand Ballon. Bravo took the lead again after the fourth stage until the end of the race, but Chaves moved into contention for the overall honours with several top-ten stage finishes, and trailed race leader David Boily by seven seconds before the final stage, in Alba, Italy. Chaves was part of a four-rider breakaway that moved clear of the field after the penultimate climb, and although he was beaten to the line by Warren Barguil and Mattia Cattaneo, Chaves' third place coupled with a 24-second time gap to the field, allowed him to win the race by 17 seconds.