Biathlon: at the end of the suspense, Les Bleus beat Norway
Earlier this week, when he had just moved to Hochfilzen (Austria), Eric Perrot had this to say to Nordic Magazine about the Franco-Norwegian battle : “It’s true that there’s a strong rivalry between the two nations. They’ve dominated us a lot over the last two years, so it’s good to be back where we belong. I think our place is up front with this French team! And we can see that with the good momentum we’ve got, and the good players we’ve got in the squad, we can get right back in front. It’s already a source of pride for us as Frenchmen to be able to get the rivalry back on track.”
A week earlier, with Eric Perrot, Emilien Jacquelin, Fabien Claude and Quentin Fillon-Maillet, Les Bleus had beaten the Norwegians in the relay at Kontiolahti (Finland). It was a real feat that they were keen to repeat this Sunday afternoon in the Tyrol.
Twists and turns galore
With exactly the same quartet, the French team led by Simon Fourcade and Jean-Pierre Amat, in an exceptional race and a constant duel against Norway(Sturla Holm Lægreid, Tarjei Boe, Johannes Thingnes Boe, Vebjoern Soerum), once again played a nasty trick on their best enemies. This is the fourth time in history that the French team has won two relays in a row on the world circuit.
To return to the race itself, it was rich in episodes. First of all, the start was classic, with Fabien Claude passing Quentin Fillon-Maillet 6 seconds behind Norway. The Jurassien took the lead from Tarjei Boe, giving Eric Perrot a lead of almost 30 seconds over Johannes Thingnes Boe.
The Norwegian didn’t let that stop him, and went into the standing area in the company of the Peiserot… who cracked him! The ambitious Savoyard used one pick when the Norwegian had to use three, and was not far off the penalty lap. He came out 18 sec 2 behind the Frenchman, but put his cross-country skis into overdrive, allowing Norway to get back on track before the final relay run.
It was a mano a mano between Emilien Jacquelin and Vebjoern Soerum that was to determine the outcome of this relay. Initially, the Scandinavian, who was perfect in the recumbent, had a gap of around twenty seconds as the Isérois rider picked up twice. With one more twist in the tale, the Norwegian turned on the standing ring and opened the door wide for France. Although he missed two targets, Emilien Jacquelin took advantage and gave France a second consecutive relay victory ahead of Norway.
On the line, the showman from Villard-de-Lans (Isère) didn’t hesitate to mime a two with his fingers and then a zero. Sweden came third, ahead of Slovenia, Germany, the United States, Italy, Finland, the Czech Republic and Estonia.
Full results
General relay rankings
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