Biathlon: a match between Antonin Guigonnat, Oscar Lombardot and Gaëtan Paturel next month in Geilo
Several weeks ago, Stéphane Bouthiaux, director of the French biathlon teams, revealed in these columns that the final men’s ticket to the start of the 2025/2026 World Cup would be up for grabs at the opening races in Geilo (Norway ).
Scheduled for 15 and 16 November at the site of Les Bleus’ last training camp, where they will be touching up the snow, the programme will include a sprint and a mass-start.
With that announced, the names of the biathletes taking part in this World Cup race to accompany Eric Perrot, Quentin Fillon-Maillet, Emilien Jacquelin, Fabien Claude and Emilien Claude to Östersund (Sweden) at the end of November still had to be revealed .
“In addition to Antonin Guigonnat and Oscar Lombardot, who are in the A training group, Gaëtan Paturel will be going up to Norway with them to compete for this last World Cup place during the opening races in Geilo. The best of these three boys will then be selected for the first two World Cups,” explains Stéphane Bouthiaux to Nordic Magazine.
Eighth overall in the IBU Cup last season, Gaëtan Paturel will now have the opportunity to win his first World Cup selection in just over a month’s time.
Théo Guiraud-Poillot could also have been one of them
At one stage, the idea was mooted of taking Haut-Savoyard Théo Guiraud-Poillot to Geilo as well, in order to include him in the match. However, after much discussion among the staff, it was finally decided that the eleventh-placed player in the last IBU Cup would not make the trip to Scandinavia .
Despite this, Stéphane Bouthiaux points out that the French coaching staff “are also keeping a close eye on Théo Guiraud-Poillot, Valentin Lejeune and Corentin Jacob, who have made great progress since the summer in all the time trials and at the Summer Tour d’Arçon”. Théo Guiraud-Poillot won two national medals there.
The names of the Frenchwomen vying for the last two World Cup places
- Oscar Lombardot – Entente Sportive Saugette (Massif Jurassien) 🇫🇷
- Antonin Guigonnat – ARMY OF CHAMPIONS / Ski Club Morzine Avoriaz (Mont Blanc) 🇫🇷
- Gaëtan Paturel – Ski Club Nordique Pays Rochois (Mont Blanc) 🇫🇷
The full programme for the opening Norwegian biathlon races in Geilo
Saturday 15 November
- 11.30am: women’s 7.5 km sprint
- 2pm: Men’s 10 km sprint
Sunday 16 November
- 12.45pm: women’s 12.5 km mass-start
- 2.30pm: men’s 15 km mass-start
- The last men’s place awarded to Geilo, two women’s tickets at stake in Bessans: we know where and when the French team selections will take place for the start of the World Cup.
- Camille Bened, Voldiya Galmace-Paulin, Paula Botet, Gilonne Guigonnat, Amandine Mengin and Sophie Chauveau: they will be fighting for two World Cup tickets in Bessans.
