15:41. A few minutes after the fine qualifying performances of Léna Quintin, Mélissa Gal and Julie Pierrel in the skate sprint of the cross-country skiing world cup in Davos ( Switzerland), it was the turn of the men’s cross-country skiers to put themselves to the test for the first time to earn their ticket to the finals.
Back in form after finishing fifth in the final of the same event in Lillehammer (Norway) last weekend, Lucas Chanavat confirmed his good feeling by taking second place in this first round. Beaten only by specialist Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo, the Bornandin can aim for his first podium finish of the tournament. Behind the two friends, Sweden’s Edvin Anger rounded off the top 3.
As for the other Frenchmen, only Richard Jouve made it through to the quarter-finals. The cross-country skier from Méribel (Savoie) finished twenty-fourth, less than four seconds behind the leader. Once again, it was a very tight qualifying race, with some of the Tricolores paying the price.
This was the case for Renaud Jay, thirty-sixth, Jules Chappaz, fortieth, Rémi Bourdin, forty-sixth, Théo Schely, forty-seventh, and Sabin Coupat, sixty-fourth on the line.
The full rankings
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- Davos : Jonna Sundling takes the lead in the sprint skate qualifier, with Léna Quintin, Mélissa Gal and Julie Pierrel going through.
- Davos : Paal Golberg and Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo boss the sprint team, Jules Chappaz and Richard Jouve fifth
- Davos : Emma Ribom and Jonna Sundling dominate the team sprint, Mélissa Gal and Léna Quintin in eighth place
- Qualification for the team sprint in Davos for the Swiss team of Janik Riebli and Valerio Grond, the two French teams in the next round
- Davos: Emma Ribom and Jonna Sundling win the sprint team qualifier with ease, Mélissa Gal and Léna Quintin well placed
- Present in Davos, Jonna Sundling will then skip the Tour de Ski
- Julie Pierrel, Clément Parisse and Sabin Coupat selected: fourteen-strong French team for the World Cup in Davos
