Biathlon: IBU Cup tickets up for grabs this week in Bessans
In Bessans (Savoie), the traditional FFS biathlon selections at the start of the winter season are about to get underway. Scheduled for this Thursday (sprint) then Saturday (sprint) and Sunday (mass-start), they will enable the French technical staff to allocate the different tickets for the first two stages of the IBU Cup scheduled in Idre Fjäll (Sweden) then Geilo (Norway).
While Chloé Chevalier, Camille Bened and Anaëlle Bondoux as well asAntonin Guigonnat, Emilien Claude and Oscar Lombardot already have their places in the bag, there will be three more prizes to be won in the women’s and men’s races in Bessan.
However, Stéphane Bouthiaux, director of the French biathlon teams, reveals one of the most important subtleties: “Depending on the density of the level in the men’s races this week, we’re thinking of going up to eight boys on Idre Fjäll, knowing that only eight will be racing, so that there will be six the following week in Geilo, he explains to Nordic Magazine. It’s not 100% certain that we’ll do it, it will depend on the level, but it’s a possibility we’re leaving ourselves. We’ll look at the level of the boys before making a decision.”
After the two sprints in Idre Fjäll, as Nordic Magazine revealed several weeks ago, the two best boys will go on to the World Cup in Kontiolahti (Finland). Hence the desire of the coaching staff to be able to select up to five male biathletes, depending on the level shown in Bessans.
The best two results from the three races will be taken into account.
In any case, the battle promises to be fierce and exciting, with Léonie Jeannier, Paula Botet, Lisa Siberchicot, Caroline Colombo, Fany Bertrand, Amandine Mengin, Voldiya Galmace-Paulin, Rémi Broutier, Martin Botet, Valentin Lejeune, Damien Levet and Théo Guiraud-Poillot, Corentin Jacob, Ian Martinet, Paul Fontaine, Mathieu Perrillat-Bottonet, Jacques Jefferies, Mathieu Garcia, Antonin Guy, Ambroise Meunier, Edgar Geny, Célia Henaff, Violette Bony, Lou-Anne Dupont Ballet-Baz, Coralie Langel and Camille Coupé.
The procedures for producing the selection rankings, and therefore for awarding tickets to the IBU Cup, will be simple: “We’ll produce a ranking based on the new IBU scale, using the two best races for each of the biathletes. If there are perfect ties in points and places, we’ll go for the third race,” explains Stéphane Bouthiaux.
The Franc-Comtois also explains : “We base our selection list [of biathletes selected] on the selection races, but the decision can also be slightly different from the results. The coaches’ opinions and opinions are also decisive in our selection process.”
The rise of the juniors and… of Les Bleues at the World Cup
These three races on the Savoyard snow of Bessans will be accompanied by other challenges. Firstly, the U22 biathletes will begin to build up their strength two weeks before the first round of the French Cup qualifier for the Junior Cup in December.
Finally, the competitions will enable Julia Simon, Lou Jeanmonnot, Jeanne Richard, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Gilonne Guigonnat, Sophie Chauveau and Océane Michelon to prepare in real conditions before the World Cup resumes in Kontiolahti (Finland) at the end of November.
“The important thing for them will be to check their ability to implement everything they have worked on over the summer and autumn and, above all, to validate everything they want to validate, says Stéphane Bouthiaux. They’ll also need to build up their confidence before the World Cup kicks off in a fortnight’ time.”
The full programme of selections from Bessans (Savoie)
Wednesday 13 November
- 8.00-10.45am: official training
- 6.00 pm: Race committee at Le Carreley
Thursday 14 November
- 8.50am-9.20am: weapons check, then men’s and women’s ski drop-off
- 9.00am-9.40am: Men’s and women’s shooting trials
- 9.50am: Men’s 10km sprint, then women’s 7.5km sprint
Friday 15 November
- 8.00-10.45am: official training
Saturday 16th November
- 8.50am-9.20am: men’s and women’s skis off (no weapons check)
- 9.00am-9.40am: Men’s and women’s shooting trials
- 9.50am: Men’s 10km sprint, then women’s 7.5km sprint
Sunday 17 November
- 8.20am-8.50am: men’s and women’s skis off (no weapons check)
- 8.30am-9.10am: Men’s and women’s shooting trials
- 9.20am: men’s 15km mass-start
- 10.10 am: women’s 12.5 km mass-start
- IBU Cup: the full programme of selections in Bessans on 14, 16 and 17 November
- “Doing specific work at race pace”: the French women’s team launches its final training camp of the preparation period on the snow at Bessans on Friday.
- Julia Simon, Lou Jeanmonnot, Jeanne Richard, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Gilonne Guigonnat, Sophie Chauveau and Océane Michelon training on the snow at Bessans: photo album
- “We already made this choice last year”: why the French women’s team decided to finish their preparations in Bessans and not in Sjusjøen with the boys.
- The names of the six French players pre-qualified for the start of the 2024/2025 IBU Cup
- The full schedule for the arrival of the French team groups for their training camp on the snow at Bessans
