Biathlon: Martin Botet from the Vosges triumphs in the mass start
This Sunday morning, the FFS biathlon selections in Bessans (Savoie) qualifying for the first two stages of the IBU Cup in Scandinavia came to an end with the mass-starts. It was the men who opened the hostilities and, in the absence of veteran Antonin Guigonnat, who was pre-qualified, the suspense was intense throughout the race.
In this first direct confrontation of the season, victory came down to a sprint between Martin Botet (18/20) and Mathieu Garcia (17/20). Separated by 6 sec 1 at the end of the last shot, to the advantage of the Dauphinois, the two men regrouped in the final loop to battle it out for victory in the sprint, with the Vosges rider narrowly edging out his rival to claim victory.
Montblanc’s Damien Levet (17/20), at 10 sec 8, completed the day’s podium. Gaëtan Paturel (15/20), Théo Guiraud-Poillot (17/20), Lou Thiévent (18/20), Edgar Geny (18/20), Axel Garnier (15/20), Paul Fontaine (16/20) and Guillaume Poirot (15/20) rounded out the top 10. Valentin Lejeune has withdrawn from the competition and will therefore not be starting the winter in the IBU Cup.
Full results
- Bessans selections: full update on the race for IBU Cup tickets before the closing mass-starts
- Sélections de Bessans: Camille Bened makes a strong impression by dominating the second sprint ahead of Gilonne Guigonnat and Justine Braisaz-Bouchet
- Bessans: Axel Garnier wins the second men’s sprint of the selections, Antonin Guigonnat and Gaëtan Paturel on the podium
- IBU Cup selections in Bessans: lessons from the first sprint
- Sélections de Bessans: the first women’s sprint for Paula Botet, Chloé Chevalier and Camille Bened follow
- Bessans: Gaëtan Paturel wins the first selection sprint ahead of Antonin Guigonnat and Théo Guiraud-Poillot
- IBU Cup: the full programme of selections in Bessans on 14, 16 and 17 November
- Three places up for grabs for the women and up to five for the men: Stéphane Bouthiaux explains what’s at stake and all the details of the IBU Cup selections in Bessans.
- “Doing specific work at race pace”: the French women’s team launches its final training camp of the preparation programme on the snow at Bessans on Friday.
- Julia Simon, Lou Jeanmonnot, Jeanne Richard, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Gilonne Guigonnat, Sophie Chauveau and Océane Michelon training on the snow at Bessans: photo album
- “We already made this choice last year”: why the French women’s team decided to finish their preparations in Bessans and not in Sjusjøen with the boys.
- The names of the six French players pre-qualified for the start of the 2024/2025 IBU Cup
- The full schedule for the arrival of the French team groups for their training camp on the snow at Bessans
