Cross-country skiing: “I’m really looking forward to it, there’s a lot of excitement”, Hugo Lapalus tells Nordic Magazine
With number 48 on his shoulders, Hugo Lapalus will be at the start of the individual skate race at the Milan/Cortina Olympic Games this Friday. The cross-country skier from La Clusaz (Haute-Savoie) is getting ready to return to the Olympic arena five days after his fine fifth place in the skiathlon, a solid result but one with a bitter taste, given how close he came to a medal. On a track he describes as “very hard”, the French cross-country skier is looking forward to a tough race.
“I’m feeling good, this track is going to be very hard. It’s going to be a really good individual race, not bad at all, for the strong guys,” he tells Nordic Magazine. I’m really looking forward to it, there’s a lot of excitement. I’m really happy, really looking forward to it.
Before looking ahead to this individual skate , he had to put the skiathlon behind him: “It took me a good day and a half to digest that skiathlon. At least, the result did. The disappointment was real, just as high as his ambitions. But there was no question of dwelling on it. “That’s it, right back on the attack. Focus on the next race.
“I was able to see in the skiathlon that the form was there, that the legs were responding, and the body too. We’ll have to use that for the rest of the race.Hugo Lapalus at Nordic Magazine
Because, above and beyond the rankings, the Haut-Savoyard retained what was essential: the feeling. “During the skiathlon, I could see that I was in good shape, that my legs were responding and that my body was strong too. We’ll have to build on that for the rest of the race.
Especially as the individual Olympic skateboarding event promises to be merciless. “ We’ll really have to deprive ourselves of nothing, set ourselves no limits, play the card to the hilt and give it our all on this track, which is really physical, with some really nice bumps,” explains Hugo Lapalus.
The course offers three different loops, a detail that changes a lot of things: “There’s no drafting effect. No one can take a guy’s skis and pull a fast one. In other words, it’s impossible to hide or take advantage of a wake. “It’s really going to come down to who’s on the pole the most. [We’ll have to] run intelligently, but run hard from the outset.
Re-mobilised and determined, Hugo Lapalus knows that he still has “some great things to look forward to” at these Games… and perhaps as early as this Friday.
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