Cross-country skiing: the wild return of Jules Chappaz
Following on from Laura Gimmler and Coletta Rydzek ‘s victory in the women’s skate team sprint at the cross-country skiing world cup in Lahti (Finland), it was the turn of the cross-country skiers to compete in the beautiful Finnish sunshine. In a completely crazy race, it was the Norwegians Even Northug and Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo.
Always well placed at the front of the leading group, the Scandinavian duo rode to perfection. On the final lap, King Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo completed the job by winning with a good margin over his rivals.
Behind the Norwegians, the race was completely crazy. The French duo of Richard Jouve and Jules Chappaz put in an XXL performance. During the third relay run, Jules Chappaz broke a pole. He then had to do the climb out of the stadium with just one stick. He managed to hang on and stay with the group in twelfth place. Richard Jouve, in his last relay, moved up a few places to bring France up to ninth place.
Then it was the Haut-Savoyard’s turn to play. He made an exceptional comeback, confirming his excellent form at the end of the season. He started the final sprint in fifth position, but put in a fantastic last straight to crucify American JC Schoonmaker and Finn Lauri Vuorinen. Ahead of them, Swiss riders Janik Riebli and Valerio Grond took second place on the podium.
Unfortunately, for the duo of Renaud Jay and Lucas Chanavat, the race was more complicated. They had one problem after another. During the first relay run, Ben Ogden touched Lucas Chanavat ‘s ski on the ground, causing him to take off his boots.
After losing around fifteen seconds, they managed to get back into the lead after some hard work by the Bornandin rider chased down by Renaud Jay. But then, back in the leading group, Renaud Jay found himself on the ground after Swedish rider Maans Skoglund crashed just in front of him. The pair finished fifteenth in Renaud Jay’s last World Cup race.
The full rankings
Read also
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- Cross-country skiing | Lahti: Renaud Jay and Lucas Chanavat win the men’s sprint skate team qualification, Richard Jouve and Jules Chappaz come fourth
- Cross-country skiing | Lahti: Johanna Hagstroem and Maja Dahlqvist win the women’s sprint skate team qualification, Julie Pierrel and Mélissa Gal finish twelfth
- Cross-country skiing | Lahti: Davide Graz and Federico Pellegrino withdraw from the sprint skate team
- Cross-country skiing | Lahti: start lists for the skateboard team sprint qualifiers
- Cross-country skiing | Jules Chappaz talks to Nordic Magazine after finishing second in the Lahti skate sprint: “This podium is really a great performance”.
- Cross-country skiing | Lahti: Jules Chappaz magnificent second, sprint skate for Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo
- Cross-country skiing | Lahti: Coletta Rydzek wins the World Cup skate sprint, the French go out in the quarters
- Cross-country skiing | Lahti: Lucas Chanavat wins the sprint skate qualifier, Jules Chappaz and Richard Jouve go through
- Cross-country skiing | Lahti: Léna Quintin and France Pignot pass the sprint skate qualifier, best time for Federica Cassol
- Cross-country skiing | Lahti: Emma Ribom withdraws from the sprint skate at the last minute
