Biathlon: after Sjusjøen, it’s off to Geilo for the Belgians
It was in Sjusjøen (Norway) that the Belgian national team decided to hold the final training camp of its summer preparations. The biathletes, coached by Paco Soulié and Margit Dahl Soerensen, went up to Norway at the beginning of November to touch up the snow, and will put on their bibs again this weekend at the opening races in Geilo (Norway).
While there will be no selective issues on the women’s side, with Lotte Lie, Maya Cloetens, Eve Bouvard and Marisa Emonts already qualified for the World Cup in Östersund (Sweden), two men’s tickets remain to be decided to see who will accompany Florent Claude and Thierry Langer to Sweden.
In the sprint on Saturday, Marek Mackels, César Beauvais, Julien Petitjacques and Sam Parmantier will battle it out for these two coveted places. The two disappointed riders will have to make do with the IBU Cup, a circuit on which Marine Debloem, Lea Gross and Rieke De Maeyer will start their winter.
The list of Belgian biathletes at the start of the Norwegian opening races in Geilo (Norway)
Men
- Florent Claude 🇧🇪
- Thierry Langer 🇧🇪
- Marek Mackels 🇧🇪
- César Beauvais 🇧🇪
- Julien Petitjacques 🇧🇪
- Sam Parmantier 🇧🇪
Ladies
- Lotte Lie 🇧🇪
- Maya Cloetens 🇧🇪
- Eve Bouvard 🇧🇪
- Marisa Emonts 🇧🇪
- Marine Debloem 🇧🇪
- Lea Gross 🇧🇪
The full programme for the opening Norwegian biathlon races in Geilo (Norway)
Friday 14th November
- 9.00-11.00: Official ladies’ training
- 11.30am-1.30pm: official men’s training
Saturday 15 November
- 10.30am-11.15am: women’s shooting trials
- 11.30am: women’s 7.5 km sprint
- 13:00-13:45: Men’s shooting trials
- 2pm: Men’s 10 km sprint
Sunday 16 November
- 9.00am-9.20am: mass-start trials n°1 ladies
- 9.25am-9.45am: mass-start shooting trials n°1 men
- 9.50 am: women’s 12.5 km mass-start (race B)
- 10.40 am: men’s 15km mass-start (race B)
- 12.00-12.30: mass-start women’s trials #2
- 12.45pm: women’s 12.5km mass-start (race A)
- 1.45pm-2.15pm: Men’s mass-start shooting trials No. 2
- 2.30pm: men’s 15km mass-start (race A)
- A sprint and a mass-start: the full programme for the Norwegian opening races in Geilo, contested by the French men’s team
- Maya Cloetens recounts her Loop One Festival, finishing thirteenth in the final: “The fictitious start at the BMW Museum was completely out of character”.
