Biathlon: no Frenchmen at the Junior Cup in Madona this week
For several seasons now, the French biathlon team has been systematically opting to skip the Junior Cup circuit, the third international level.
In 2021/2022, Les Bleus missed out on one of the two stages at Pokljuka (Slovenia), while in 2022/2023 they skipped the opening round at Martell-Val Martello (Italy). In the last two winters, it was the races scheduled in Jakuszyce (Poland) that were not contested by the next generation of French racers.
As far as the current 2025/2026 season is concerned, the competitions scheduled for this week in Madona (Latvia) and the next in Imatra (Finland), where the European Junior Championships will be held, will not see any French biathletes at the start.
“The current IBU programme for juniors copies what is done in the World Cup and IBU Cup, and that doesn’t suit us. We think it’s too much,” Stéphane Bouthiaux, director of the French teams, told Nordic Magazine a few months ago. What’s more, there are huge financial costs involved.
Priority is given to selections for the World Youth and Junior Championships made on the national circuit.
In December, the French were in Goms (Switzerland) and Martell-Val Martello (Italy). They were hugely successful, claiming eighteen podium finishes in twelve races, with Lou-Anne Dupont Ballet-Baz leading the way overall.
Instead of travelling to Northern Europe, the French staff decided to organise the selections for the Youth and Junior World Championships in Arber (Germany), scheduled for late February/early March. The qualifying races will be held on the same dates as the Junior Cups, which will be skipped.
“We want to keep things as open as possible at this level, so we want to allow as many young [U19] and junior [U21] athletes as possible to compete against each other to select the biathletes for the Worlds. In the calendar, it’s complicated to find a time when all the juniors are in the same place at the same time. So we’re going to take advantage of January to make our selections over three French Cup weekends [in Méribel, Les Contamines-Montjoie and Autrans, editor’s note],” confirms Claire Breton, shooting coach for the Excellence 2030 group.
A view confirmed by his boss Stéphane Bouthiaux: “We have a very fine circuit in France which allows us to test everyone right up to the last minute. If we take part in these races, it takes away a big period when we can do it. The more we can do it, the better because there’s every chance of making a mistake if we select the group too early.
In recent years, this strategy of regular deadlocks on the Junior Cup circuit has not prevented the young French from shining at the world youth and junior championships. Last March, in Östersund (Sweden), they won no fewer than sixteen medals.
