Cross-country skiing: a top 10 finish for Victor Lovera
Victor Lovera will never forget 17 January 2025. At the Stade des Tuffes in Prémanon (Jura), which is hosting a cross-country skiing world cup stage this weekend, he finished the individual skate in 7th place, less than thirty seconds behind the winner, Norway’s Iver Tildheim Andersen. The best Frenchman, he was not new to the exercise. Two years ago, he was already present in Les Rousses when the world’s elite came to Franche-Comté for the first time. In the same format, he finished 27th, his best individual placing to date at this level.
This experience may have helped him to approach the competition with a calm mind. “I was very relaxed, as is often the case here. In any case, I had nothing to lose, he tells Nordic Magazine. But he didn’t take the start as a dilettante. On the contrary, the member of Ski Nordique Chartreuse was ready in his mind. ‘It’s all I’d been thinking about for a fortnight,” he smiles.
So it was a prepared and motivated twenty-four year old who set off. “A race like this, there’s so much anticipation, so much desire. Yesterday, I was feeling really good, even though my back was a bit sore”, he explains.
Victor Lovera had donned the French team jersey. But, like Arnaud Chautemps, he is not a member of the federal squad. “Clearly, we’ve got nothing to lose. It’s all about desire, it’s all about pleasure. We’re delighted to be here. We know it’s going to be a crazy race, that there’ll be a big crowd and that the weather will be good. There’s nothing to stress about. So no, no stress,” he insists.
I said to myself,
if ever there was a time to get hurt,
it’s got to be today.Victor Lovera
When he left the gate, it was the cheering from the spectators that made an impression on him. The second round was really tough,” he continues. And in the third round, I gave it my all. I said to myself, if there’s ever a time to get hurt, it’s today. But it doesn’t hurt any more when all you hear is the crowd. And you push and you push. It’s that extra bit of soul that means you can really go for the pain.
However, the Dauphinois didn’t expect to break into the top 10. At the intermediates, there was too much noise for him to pick up any information. So nobody told him that he would be able to take his place for a few moments in the coveted leader’s chair. And yet, at the start of this year, he knows he’s in good shape: “I’ve been telling my coach for a month and a half that I’m feeling good, so there was no reason why it shouldn’t work out. I knew I could do it. I needed a hard piste, like today. Plus we had great skis and the whole staff gave 100%.
Victor Lovera could be singing Lorie’s hit from the early 2000s at the top of his lungs. Because the competitor has resolutely chosen to adopt the Positive Attitude this winter. More seriously, he wants to make the most of his good fortune and make the most of every moment. This year, I’m trying to take it one race at a time, enjoying myself,” he confides. And it’s working. Pleasure is the most important thing, I think.
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