Biathlon: no podium for Les Bleues in Ruhpolding
On Wednesday afternoon, the French women’s team was the overwhelming favourite in the opening relay of the Biathlon World Cup in Ruhpolding (Germany). Lou Jeanmonnot, Océane Michelon, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Julia Simon, all of whom won on Saturday in Oberhof (Germany), were indeed back in Bavaria.
“There wasn’t really any reason to change, everyone wanted to race,” their coach Cyril Burdet told La Chaîne L’Equipe before the start of the race. The only problem was that the foursome didn’t manage to take victory… or even the podium.
At the finish, it was indeed in fourth place that Julia Simon from Beaufort crossed the line at the foot of the huge grandstand at the Chiemgau Arena. Having come second in the last round, Simon – despite scoring 10/10 in the shooting – broke down physically in the final kilometres in the face of Maren Kirkeeide and Hanna Oeberg.
“It was suffering. I gave it my all, but they were coming on so strong. It was a different rhythm, and I felt powerless,” Julia Simon told La Chaîne L’Equipe in the mixed zone afterwards. I really feel I did my job very well. I didn’t rush [in the standing shot], I was really in control. On the track, it was very, very hard! I’m lacking a bit, even though it’s getting better and better. The last lap like that is usually my strong point, but that was the moment when I couldn’t hold on to my place. It was quite a battle.
“It’s a relay where skiing doesn’t pay much”.
If the podium slipped away in the finish of this relay, it wasn ‘t just at that point that the French lost it. It’s also a question of the four relays as a whole,” said Justine Braisaz-Bouchet. I did three picks and lost time. It was a close race all the way through. We didn’t lose out, but there were better than us today.
Especially as on the Bavarian track, the suction effect is very strong, making it impossible to make huge splits. ” It’s a relay where the skiing doesn’t pay very well”, sums up Lou Jeanmonnot.
Former biathlete Caroline Colombo, in her column published in our columns on Wednesday morning, confirmed this constant: “The track is very, very fast! It’s probably the fastest on the circuit. There’s a lot of flat ground, you arrive at the firing point on a downhill flat and the climbs are fairly short and very steep. Often, you don’t make big gaps on the track,” explained the Meuthairde. It’s really modern biathlon, with fast, precise skiing and shooting.
Finally, this defeat in the last relay before the one on 18 February at the Olympic Games in Milan/Cortina 2026 is a good reminder. Although Les Bleues will be favourites in Antholz (Italy), the title is not already in the bag. ” We have to keep it in mind,” concludes Justine Braisaz-Bouchet.
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