Cross-country skiing: Delphine Claudel completes her reathletisation programme
At the end of December 2024, Delphine Claudel revealed on her Instagram account that she had suffered a stress fracture in her right foot which was preventing her from performing in the cross-country skiing World Cup. Since then, water has flowed under the bridge and the Frenchwoman even put her skis back on for a few minutes at the very end of the season.
The leader of the French women’s team for the past few seasons, the Vosgienne has taken time to recuperate in order to prepare for the summer in the best possible way. Speaking to Nordic Magazine, Alexandre Pouyé , coach of the French women’s team, agreed to give us an update on the Bressaude.
A preparation that did not foreshadow a potential injury
“Last year, I think Delphine had a good preparation. She was able to work hard and it was very interesting. We tried out a few new things in terms of training and her overall planning. We had the impression that she was responding quite well.
“We were a bit tired at times in the autumn. But we always had something to hang on to. She had a great time at the French wheel-ski championships. We did physiological tests in Prémanon in October and they were good. There were no problems. Then things went a bit off course at the end of October when she fell ill.
“During her time in Scandinavia, she was very tired.Alexandre Pouyé at Nordic Magazine
“After that, she chased her form. That doesn’t totally explain the injury, but it does explain why the start of the season was a little less flamboyant than the year before. She found it hard to get back to Beitostølen and Ruka and even if it wasn’t huge, it wasn’t all plain sailing.
“For her, it’s happened several times that the start of the Scandinavian season hasn’t been great and then things come back really well at the Tour de Ski. So there was no particular cause for concern.
“On the other hand, during the period in Scandinavia, she was very tired. Even though the physical load wasn’t enormous, she was tired. She had this pain in her foot that started really, really badly the week before the mass-start in Ruka.
Long weeks of rest before considering a return to action
“A week later, she was diagnosed with a stress fracture. From then on, she had a good period of total relief on her lower limbs and almost total relief on her upper limbs. As a result, she was able to rest well and take the pressure off a little. What we said was that after a few weeks we’d take stock of whether there really will be an off-season, or whether we’ll be able to consider a few things over the course of the season.
“The idea is not to have too big a month of April because she hasn’t recovered 100% yet”.Alexandre Pouyé at Nordic Magazine
“At the end of that period around January, it was quite clear that she hadn’t recovered enough for us to consider anything. So we decided at that point to take a season off. From then on, she went back to the reathletisation unit in Albertville, where she was able to benefit from a system that was very effective, because you’re with people on a daily basis who are constantly managing the physical load on her body and helping her to free up the mental load.”
“It worked really well. There were times when we had to react a bit, times when it allowed us to work, but on the whole it was fine. Now she’s gradually coming out of that phase and being able to train again in a slightly more normal way. The idea is not to have too big a month in April because she’s not back to 100% yet. There’ll be enough work to do after that.
“She’s hyper-motivated and I think all this has made her take a step back and rest. She’s fully rediscovered her deepest motivations. I’m really looking forward to seeing her get back into a pattern where I know she’ll give 200%.”
Read also
- Injured and out for the rest of the winter, Delphine Claudel tells Nordic Magazine: “You can’t think too much and you have to be patient”.
- “I’m really going to take this time to listen to myself”: injured Delphine Claudel talks to Nordic Magazine about her news
