Biathlon: different strategies for the men’s and women’s French teams as preparation draws to a close
Held last weekend at the Florence-Baverel stadium, the Summer Tour d’Arçon (Doubs) marked the end of a period of altitude training for the French biathlon team. The women had just returned from Ramsau (Austria), where they put their cross-country skis back on at the Dachstein glacier, while the men came to the Saugeais from Prémanon (Jura).
But the programme for the two groups is different. Julia Simon, Lou Jeanmonnot, Jeanne Richard, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Gilonne Guigonnat, Sophie Chauveau and Océane Michelon are not resting this week.
“The girls are still working on their volume, their coach Cyril Burdet told Nordic Magazine. After that, they’ll have a week to recover before starting the home stretch in November, where the aim will be to stay fresh before the start of the World Cup.”
Simon Fourcade’s men rest this week
Oscar Lombardot, Fabien Claude, Eric Perrot, Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Emilien Jacquelin are resting at home. “They have reduced their training load in order to overcompensate for the effort and commitment they have put in over the last three weeks at altitude,” explains Simon Fourcade, their coach.
That’s because the French coach had imposed a week at altitude on his men prior to the two-week course organised in the hypoxia chambers of Prémanon. “Everyone went their own way, reveals the Catalan. Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Fabien Claude in Bessans, Oscar Lombardot in Tenerife, Emilien Jacquelin at home doing hypoxia in a tent and Eric Perrot in Italy at Antholz and on the Lavazè pass.”
At the end of this big block of altitude, the break is more than deserved. “After that, they’ll have another week at home with fairly short intensities to get back into the swing of things,” continues Simon Fourcade.
The boys in Norway, the girls in Bessans
Then, from 4 to 17 November, the French biathlon team will hold the final meeting of this long summer’s preparations . Once again, the two groups have made different choices.
The boys will first fly to Norway and Sjusjøen (Norway) to get back out on the snow, and then to take on the world’s best biathletes before the start of the World Cup.“The Norwegian selections’ races will be held at the end of the course and will allow us to build up our confidence and be ready to perform, both physically and psychologically, in Kontiolahti,” notes Simon Fourcade.
As for the women, they decided to stay in France to conclude their training season at altitude on the snowfarm in Bessans (Savoie). A similar choice to last year.
“We want to continue the altitude work we’ve been doing for the last two seasons to prepare for the 2026 Games in Antholz,” says Cyril Burdet. The high density of the French women’s biathlon also means that we don’t have to go up to Scandinavia to face the Norwegians or the Swedes.
“Internal confrontations with groups B and juniors will also do the trick to make the final adjustments,” confirms the Les Bleues coach , referring to the IBU Cup selections scheduled for 14-17 November.
Composition of the French A biathlon teams for the 2024/2025 season
Ladies
- Justine Braisaz-Bouchet – DOUANE / Club des Sports des Saisies (Savoie) 🇫🇷
- Sophie Chauveau – ARMÉE DE CHAMPIONS / Ski Club Grand Bornand (Mont Blanc) 🇫🇷
- Gilonne Guigonnat – Ski Club Villard sur Boëge (Mont Blanc) 🇫🇷
- Lou Jeanmonnot – ARMY OF CHAMPIONS / Olympic Mont d’Or (Massif Jurassien) 🇫🇷
- Océane Michelon – Bauges Ski Nordique (Savoie) 🇫🇷
- Jeanne Richard – POLICE NATIONALE / Les Gets Ski Competition (Mont Blanc) 🇫🇷
- Julia Simon – DOUANE / Club des Sports des Saisies (Savoie) 🇫🇷
Men
- Fabien Claude – ARMÉE DE CHAMPIONS / Basse sur Le Rupt Nordic skiing (Massif des Vosges) 🇫🇷
- Quentin Fillon-Maillet – DOUANE / Ski Club du Grandvaux (Massif Jurassien) 🇫🇷
- Emilien Jacquelin – DOUANE / CS Nordique Villard de Lans (Dauphiné) 🇫🇷
- Oscar Lombardot – Entente Sportive Saugette (Massif Jurassien) 🇫🇷
- Eric Perrot – ARMÉE DE CHAMPIONS / Ski Club Peisey-Vallandry (Savoie) 🇫🇷
- Prémanon, Vassieux-en-Vercors, Norway, Lenzerheide, Bessans, Ramsau and Corrençon-en-Vercors: the French team’s summer training programme
- Back on snow: the photo album of the French women’s team on cross-country skis in Ramsau
- Big blue on the Dachstein glacier: French women continue to enjoy the snow and skiing in the sunshine of Ramsau
- The girls on the Ramsau glacier, the boys in hypoxia at Prémanon: before the Arçon Summer Tour, the French team sets off on a training camp (at altitude)
