Cross-country skiing : Thibaut Chêne and Les Bleus aim to finish on a high note in Les Rousses
A few hours after the classic sprint of the cross-country skiing World Cup in Les Rousses (Jura), Thibaut Chêne, coach of the French men’s team, was again on hand at the Jason Lamy-Chappuis stadium in Les Tuffes. The Haut-Alpin took the opportunity to review his men’s race, which ended with Lucas Chanavat finishing a solid sixth.
Speaking to Nordic Magazine, the French coach has mixed feelings about the race, but is not forgetting the final race of the French leg on Sunday, when the blue cross-country skiers will be hoping to shine.
- How would you sum up this eagerly-awaited classic sprint?
In terms of performance, it’s pretty good and there are some good things. We realise that we can do it. However, in terms of results, it’s clearly a disappointment. We were at home, we wanted to do well. I think we could have done it. It just didn’t go our way. At the time, it was a huge disappointment.
- This home event is bound to make you want to do well…
That’s also what we work for. And in the end, that’s what’s so cool about our sport. You can lose, and when there’s something at stake and you lose, that means you’re playing hard and there’s something at stake. Clearly, there’s a lot at stake here and we’ve lost, so it hurts. In the end, we’re still one of the best teams in the world and I think that in the construction of the season in terms of sprints, and particularly the classic sprint, we’re finding some interesting and important values. We’re getting stronger. It’s a great event and we’re always keen to do well.
- Where do you think the difference has been for your athletes?
For Richard [Jouve], his placement wasn’t good in his quarter-final. He was a bit surprised by his skis at the start. He arrived in sixth place before the last bend when we’d said we’d have to run at the front. He wasn’t able to do what we’d set out to do. However, he rode a great last straight even though [Qiang] Wang got on him. I think that if it hadn’t been for that, he would still have been able to get through and save himself.
“It’s a hell of an entry into the World Cup, so it’s great”.Thibaut Chêne talks to Nordic Magazine about Ivan Essonnier’s premiere
For Jules Chappaz, it also came down to positioning in the semi-final. I think he should have blocked the lines more. He still had a long final straight today and it came down to the kick-off. We didn’t think he could get back to that point and I think he had one of the best finishes.
Lucas [Chanavat] lacked a bit of kick in the last bump. It came down to a fast final where he perhaps had less power than in skateboarding. It was very physical and he was able to show off his qualities as a descender and pusher. As for Renaud Jay, who is coming back well, he did a top 15 in the World Cup. He’d been looking for a result for a while. He did it at home, which was very good. After that, if there was a tiny bit of regret, it was that he was missing 100 metres of straight line to hold the thrust a little better.
Ivan Essonnier, who was just starting out in the World Cup, I think is a quarter underdog. He was too soft and left too much to the others at the start. I don’t think he ran on instinct enough. Still, he had a great finish and that’s quite an entry into the World Cup, so it’s great and very important for him. He was part of this great day.
- What are your ambitions for the mass-start classic scheduled for Sunday?
This mass-start will pass six times over the 3.3 kilometre loop. It’s going to be a tough race, so we’ll have to see how it plays out. We’ll have to be patient. If we’ve got the physique and the watts, we’ll try to get the best out of it at the end. At home, I think we’ll have to be calm and not want to weigh too much on the race.
Read also
- “I have no regrets because I gave it my all”: Lucas Chanavat mixed feelings after his sixth place in the classic sprint at Les Rousses
- At Les Rousses, Renaud Jay gets back on his feet
- Les Rousses: Edvin Anger signs his first World Cup success in the classic sprint, Lucas Chanavat sixth in the final
- Les Rousses: Lucas Chanavat second in classic sprint qualifying behind Ben Ogden, four other French qualifiers
