Biathlon: Gaëtan Paturel will try to qualify for the World Cup
On Tuesday, Montblanc’s Gaëtan Paturel boarded a plane bound for Norway with Fabien Claude, Eric Perrot, Quentin Fillon-Maillet, Emilien Jacquelin, Emilien Claude, Antonin Guigonnat and Oscar Lombardot.
The Pays Rochois biathlete has been included in the French senior biathlon team for the final training camp in Geilo (Norway), and on 15 and 16 November will be competing for a place in the World Cup for the first time in his young career. A fitting reward for the man who finished in the top 10 overall in the IBU Cup last winter.
Playing in a World Cup squad was a goal and it’s been ticked off the list, but the aim now is to make the squad,” Gaëtan Paturel tells Nordic Magazine. I’m an outsider because the other two [Antonin Guigonnat and Oscar Lombardot, editor’s note] have already been to the World Cup, but I’m going there with no pressure… and with the motivation to get that ticket.
“It wouldn’t be a punishment for me to drop back down to the IBU Cup”.
The Haut-Savoyard is no stranger to this Norwegian gathering,having completed a number of summer training courses with the A squad.
“The idea of linking the A and B teams is a big plus for me. When you’re a bit young, it can be scary to find yourself in a training camp with an A group you don’t know, made up of guys who are performing really well,” he says. So I’m going there with less apprehension than if I didn’t know the team. I’m a bit stressed, though, because it’s not my basic group, but I’m really looking forward to it!
Especially as, if the races in Geilo don’t go as hoped, Gaëtan Paturel is guaranteed a place in the IBU Cup at the start of the season.
I always have this plan B on a circuit that I only discovered last year and where I want to perform,” says the former Haute-Savoie Nordic Team member. It wouldn’t be a punishment for me to drop back down to the IBU Cup. I’d say it would be a great reward to be on the World Cup!
- “Going head-to-head with the world’s elite”: departure day in Norway for the French men’s team, expected on the snow in Geilo for the final training camp in their Olympic preparations.
- Three men for one place: Antonin Guigonnat, Oscar Lombardot and Gaëtan Paturel will battle it out for the final ticket to the World Cup on 15 and 16 November in Geilo.
- “I absolutely wanted to have a full weekend to build up my confidence”: with just a few weeks to go before his place in the World Cup is up for grabs, Gaëtan Paturel reassured himself at La Féclaz.
