Nordic Para-skiing: Les Bleus meet in Bessans
Last week, the French Para Nordic ski team were on a training camp in the snow at Bessans (Savoie). At Haute Maurienne Vanoise, Vincent Duchêne and Anaïs Bescond, the group’s two coaches, ran a number of sessions to help their athletes get back in touch with the white gold.
The whole team was there, including Benjamin Daviet, Anthony Chalençon and his guide Florian Michelon, Chloé Pinto and Karl Tabouret. “It felt good to put the skis back on, their coach told Nordic Magazine . The weather was good, so the conditions were top-notch for a resumption, with a stable slope, a real billiard table.”
“We had a good course with some great sessions, a time trial, intense sessions, strength training and shooting. The snow conditions were really good, confirms Chloé Pinto, the only female member of the team. It’s always great to be back on skis after so many months, but now we can’t wait to see what it’s going to be like competing this winter.”
Benjamin Daviet’s return
As with every training camp, the staff had to adapt to the fitness of each player, but the results were positive. Particularly for Chloé Pinto, who left full of motivation after a summer of 2023 marked by a desire to stop. “She was able to complete the whole course and took the programme in her stride, something she struggled to do last year,” enthuses Vincent Duchêne.
The week in Bessan also marked Benjamin Daviet’s return to the squad following his summer of para-rowing, which included a Paralympic final. “It feels good to be back on cross-country skis. I’m going back fully motivated, says the Bornandin. The fact that I spent a whole summer rowing without skiing gave me a mental break from that part of skiing. It’s also helped me improve physically and I feel that I’ve still got a lot to improve in Nordic para-skiing. It’s motivating for the future because I feel like I’m going back fifteen years.”
“Everyone was happy to see him again and it got him back into the skiing scene,” says his coach.
Priority on para biathlon
For the Haut-Savoyard and the rest of the team, the focus this season will be on the world championships in para biathlon and para cross-country skiing. “Overall, the priority will be on the biathlon because there will be three individual events at the Worlds. Even so, Benjamin Daviet and Anthony Chalençon will be concentrating on the para cross-country skiing World Championships to go after the relay medal they missed in 2023,” reveals Vincent Duchêne.
“We’re all keen to get back in the spotlight,” says Florian Michelon, Anthony Chalençon’s guide, a former national-level biathlete and cousin of a certain Océane.
Before that, the season kicks off in December with a World Cup tour organised before Christmas in Vuokatti (Finland) in both para biathlon and para cross-country skiing.
Photos of the French Para Nordic Ski Team training camp in Bessans (Savoie)
