Cross-country skiing: “I can’t wait for the 10 km skate”, says Victor Lovera
Victor Lovera made his Olympic debut this Sunday at the Milan/Cortina 2026 skiathlon, held on the Tesero track in Italy’s Val di Fiemme. In his Olympic debut, the 25-year-old cross-country skier took a solid fifteenth place, at the heart of a superb collective performance for French cross-country skiing, with Mathis Desloges taking silver, Hugo Lapalus fifth and Jules Lapierre ninth.
“It was one hell of a tough race. I felt pretty good,” he summed up for Nordic Magazine. The classic race was really hard for everyone, and that’s where the gaps were created. It was a bit more complicated with the skis on the grip. At the end of the first half of the race, Victor Lovera was in twenty-second place.
Before launching his comeback in the skating, his preferred discipline, and finishing in fifteenth place. It took me a bit of time to get into it [the skating part],” he admits. After that, I did move up a few places, so at least I’m quite happy with the skating.
Over and above his individual performance, Victor Lovera emphasised the collective significance of this skiathlon: “Four Frenchmen in the top 15 is a hell of a result. Mathis [Desloges]’s medal was a real coup, as was Hugo [Lapalus]’s fifth place. For all the staff, for the whole team, for French cross-country skiing in general, it’s just too good, it’s exceptional.
He is now setting his sights on theindividual skateboard event, scheduled for Friday 13 February, his main objective for this Olympic fortnight. “I’ve been feeling really good on the skateboard and that’s good news. I can’t wait for the 10km skate, which is my big target for this fortnight, to see if I can get the same feeling in this format.
But before that, it’s time to recover: “We’re all pretty worn out tonight [Sunday evening],” he smiled. It’s been a long day.
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