2026 Olympics : no Frenchman in the top 15 in the classic sprint at Tesero
Jules Chappaz was devastated minutes after being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the classic sprint at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan/Cortina. On Tuesday 10 February in Tesero (Italy), the Frenchman saw his medal hopes dashed in his first knockout round. He was dominated by Norwegians Johannes Hoesflot Kleebo(future Olympic champion) and Erik Valnes(future bronze medallist). He missed out on the semi-finals by seven hundredths.
Jules Chappaz: “My body wasn’t ready to give everything”.
Speaking to France 2, Le Cluse appeared deeply affected. In tears, he gave his first reaction: “Four years of work ruined by gastroenteritis”. He then went on to describe his physical difficulties, having only arrived in Val di Fiemme after the opening ceremony: “From the start, I felt like throwing up. I had gas right from the end of qualifying. I didn’t feel well at all. I haven’t recovered [from his illness]. I don’t have too many symptoms any more, but as soon as I push myself, it’s no good.
Despite his poor feeling in the previous days, Jules Chappaz wanted to give it a go on a track where he finished second in the Tour de Ski in January, on the same format: “I wanted to believe. Otherwise I wouldn’t have come. I was there to go for a medal. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well over the last two weeks. I did what I could with what I had. My body wasn’t ready to give everything. It’s an opportunity I might only get once in my life.
“It was a disaster for the whole team,” admits Lucas Chanavat.
Aside from his personal case, none of the six French players who qualified for the quarter-finals reached the top 12. Lucas Chanavat finished 4th in his heat, Richard Jouve 5th, Mélissa Gal, Julie Pierrel and Théo Schely 6th. “It was an off day. It’s hard to explain why now. We’ll talk about it, but I didn’t have the legs. My heart was in my chest,” the last of the competitors told France 2 .
“I was lacking in freshness. I was much better last week and even yesterday. The event took its toll on my legs. I also had problems with my grip on the climb”, Richard Jouve continued on France 3. Mélissa Gal shared her incomprehension, also on the public service channel: “I can’t really explain it. The others were stronger than me, and that’s hard to take in.
With the exception of Jules Chappaz, a medal would have been a big surprise for the rest of the French clan, but the Bleus were nonetheless marked by this collective failure. ” It’s frustrating,” summed up Richard Jouve. For the whole team, it’s a disaster,” agreed Lucas Chanavat on France 2. It’s so hard not to succeed at the Games. Rich and I went round and round in Beijing. Once again, it didn’t work out. […] I thought it would work out in favour of at least one of us. […] Today there were big things to do.”
The sprint team as a rebound?
Only Julie Pierrel had positive memories of the day, after finishing 21st in qualifying. Speaking to the public broadcaster, she said: “I was feeling great after having done my best qualifying ever. I felt I had a great finish but I couldn’t capitalise on it. I’m still a bit disappointed.
While the selections were not yet known, all the men interviewed were looking ahead to the sprint team, which will be contested in skateboard style. ” We’re going to have to move on and bounce back, and not let a poor performance like that get us down,” said Théo Schely. “We’re going to have to be a lot better than that. Because for the moment, we’re not there,” concluded Richard Jouve.
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