Biathlon: French women on fire in Nove Mesto
The last time a women’s biathlon sprint was held in Nove Mesto (Czech Republic) was in February 2024 at the World Championships. On that day, Les Bleues were untouchable, achieving an incredible quadruple.
Thirteen months on, the French team have once again set up camp in their usual hotel next to the Vysocina Arena. And things haven’t changed much. This Friday evening, in the sprint of the seventh stage of the World Cup, the Tricolores put in an impressive collective performance.
While Norway’s Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (10/10) was untouchable for victory, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (9/10) and Julia Simon (10/10) were on the podium, while Lou Jeanmonnot (9/10) was fourth. To crown it all, Jeanne Richard (10/10), eleventh, and Océane Michelon (8/10), thirteenth, were around 50 seconds behind before the pursuit.
“Coming back to this site awakens many things”
“It’s the overall performance [that I’ll be remembering] and the strength of this French women’s team, which means that all the girls at the start are playing up front, Cyril Burdet, their coach, told La Chaîne L’Equipe. It’s very satisfying to see all the girls in such a good position before the pursuit.”
“Coming back to this venue brings back a lot of memories, admitted Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, the reigning world sprint champion. It was a very demanding and tough race and everything went very fast. A lot of my team-mates are in good positions too, so it promises to be a good match tomorrow.”
Julia Simon, whowas “relieved” to have had a “full race”, was also smiling, as was Lou Jeanmonnot, who admitted to having had a “decent race” despite not finishing on the podium. Even if she would have liked to have taken more from her, the Doubiste rider is now 63 points behind Franziska Preuss (9/10), fifteenth on the day, in the overall standings.
Maintaining momentum to meet end-of-season targets
“There are still a lot of great things to come and a lot of challenges to take up, both collectively and individually, says Cyril Burdet on the subject of the end-of-winter objectives. The idea will be to maintain the momentum we’ve got at the moment by staying focused despite the rather spring-like weather, which can take us away from what we know how to do when we’re in the middle of winter. [The good thing is that] the girls have shown that they’re really in that frame of mind.”
This Saturday, in the pursuit race starting at 5.40pm, the Patrouille de France will have another opportunity to shine in the Czech Republic.
- The full programme for the Nove Mesto World Cup, the seventh stage of the 2024/2025 season
- Corinne Niogret: my best memory of… Nove Mesto
- Sophie Chauveau and Oscar Lombardot selected: the French squad for the Nove Mesto World Cup
- “Hold on to third place overall”: after his world gold medal, Eric Perrot is back in action in the World Cup in Nove Mesto.
- Nove Mesto: the start list for the men’s sprint is changed because of the high temperatures… Eric Perrot number 1!
- Nove Mesto: Emilien Jacquelin marks his return to the limelight by winning the sprint
- Nove Mesto: on the sprint podium, Johannes Thingnes Boe comes within 10 points of Sturla Holm Lægreid in the overall standings, Emilien Jacquelin takes third place
- Emilien Jacquelin after winning the Nove Mesto sprint: “The break was good for moving on and moving forward”.
- “She wants to keep up the pressure”: in Nove Mesto and 92 points behind Franziska Preuss, Lou Jeanmonnot sets out to conquer the crystal globe.
- Nove Mesto: the start list for the women’s sprint has also been changed, with Jeanne Richard the first starter
