Cross-country skiing: a fine start to winter in the FESA Cup for Julie Pierrel
On 19 January 2024, Julie Pierrel discovered the cross-country skiing World Cup on the slopes ofOberhof, Germany, with a classic sprint and a mass-start in the same style. Just under a year later, the Frenchwoman will be making her second appearance on the FIS flagship circuit.
Selected as one of the three French cross-country skiers who will travel to Davos (Switzerland) as part of the third leg of the season, which starts this Friday, the Haut-Savoyard convinced the staff following her double podium finish at the FESA Cup in Schlinig (Italy) last weekend. ‘It’s always quite difficult to know where you stand at the start of the season at international level, she tells Nordic Magazine. Still, I was very happy to get these two podium finishes. The weekend started with a bit of frustration in the sprint, where I finished in a quarter.”
“I concentrated more on these races and that led to this selection”Julie Pierrel at Nordic Magazine
The skier from Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie) knew the importance of her first international competitions. “I knew I had to take it one step at a time. I started by having a great weekend at FESA to try and get to Davos. I also knew that there might be openings for Davos. That’s why it was important to have a nice weekend, she explains. I concentrated more on these races and that led to this selection.”
Lined up for the skate sprint and the 20 km individual classic
Forty-fifth in the sprint qualifier and forty-second in the mass-start in the Thuringian Forest last January, Julie Pierrel is now tackling a circuit that she is no longer discovering: “Last year, it was really about discovering and now I know what to expect. We’re going to do everything we can to make it work. It’s going to be a lovely weekend, especially in Davos, which is a beautiful place. I’m a substitute for the sprint team and then I’ll race the sprint and the individual”, she explains.
And without knowing “where she stands” in relation to the others, the 22-year-old cross-country skier will above all want to do well in her third and fourth starts in the elite.
“I’m going to try to give it my all. What’s more, it’s a 20-kilometre race, so it’s going to be long and I’m going to have to manage my effort well, because we haven’t done one since the start of the year, she says. It’s a format where you can’t get too carried away either, and you have to keep up a good, high World Cup pace. We’ll see what happens.”
Read also
- Julie Pierrel, Clément Parisse and Sabin Coupat selected: fourteen-strong French team for the Davos World Cup
- FESA Cup Schlinig: after her top 3 finish in the individual classic, Julie Pierrel is back on the podium in skateboarding
- Schlinig: Julie Pierrel climbs the podium in the FESA Cup individual classic behind Gina Del Rio
