Biathlon: the French team is on fire
At the start of the 2024/2025 winter season, the French men’s biathlon world cup is taking centre stage. Having struggled over the last two seasons, when podium finishes were rare, Les Bleus have launched their season with some magnificent performances over the last few days.
Firstly, Simon Fourcade and Jean-Pierre Amat ‘s men won the relay against the untouchable Norwegians. Then, and above all, the French shone solo, with Emilien Jacquelin winning the sprint and Eric Perrot the mass-start… ahead of Quentin Fillon-Maillet.
After just one stage out of nine, the three French leaders have already touched the podium. If this has been possible, it’s thanks to a high level of fitness, concentration and precision in front of the targets, as well as fast skis.
“It’s a very positive point, especially in this kind of snow, which is cold and which we had a lot of trouble with last year, especially at the start of the season, Quentin Fillon-Maillet told Nordic Magazine on Sunday afternoon after the mass start. We’re back on high-performance skis that are better than average.”
A successful training course in Finland before the start of hostilities
It has to be said that the French team have spared no expense to improve their skills in this type of snow, sending their waxers to Muonio (Finland) before the start of the season.
“The technicians were in doubt before the start of the season. They did some good work in Finland to test things out and they told us that there were some interesting things. We had to validate it in the World Cup, and it’s great that we did! Now we have the solution for both cold and hot conditions,” added the two-time reigning Olympic champion from the Jura region.
Naturally, this kind of performance is a source of great joy for the team of technicians led by Grégoire Deschamps. His team includes Luc Ronin, Baptiste Blondeau, Hugo Buffard, Théophile Camp, Alexandre Josserand, Kilian Meilleur, Louis Schwartz and Louis Deschamps.
“It motivates everyone to work in this direction,” concludes Quentin Fillon-Maillet.
- Kontiolahti: Emilien Jacquelin, with a 10/10, takes the sprint and wins the World Cup for the first time in almost three years
- Kontiolahti: Eric Perrot brilliant mass-start winner ahead of Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Sturla Holm Lægreid
