Rollerski: “I have quite high goals with the team”, says Thomas Joly
This Sunday, Thomas Joly took fourth place in the mass-start classic of the French summer cross-country skiing championships in Autrans (Isère). The Doubiste skier stayed in the hunt right to the end of an event made particularly tactical by the wind, continuing his fine summer after his second place in theAlliansloppet and his victory in the Haut-DoubsLoppet.
It was a pretty tough race in the end, even though there were no bumps, there was no recovery,” the 27-year-old cross-country skier told Nordic Magazine at the finish. There was a lot of wind, which made the race very tactical. I was in the pack behind the breakaway of Mathis Desloges and Victor Lovera. We tried a lot of skiing, attacking and getting back up. In the end, we didn’t make it back.
Some great objectives for the Ski Classics this winter
In contention for the podium right up to the end, the Team Ramudden rider ultimately came up just short. “It came down to a long sprint, and in that game I came up against someone a little stronger: Jules Chappaz and Théo Schely beat me. It wasn’t a great day for me, but I worked hard”, he relativises.
Thomas Joly is now focusing on his preparations for the Ski Classics season, which he is approaching with ambitions.
“We’re going to start the end of our preparation by going to Spain to get some sun, and then I’ll be taking it easy on the snow to start the season in Bad Gastein [on 13 December, editor’s note]. I’ve got some pretty lofty goals with the team. We’d like to finish on the podium, and why not bring home a green bib [the distinctive sprint jersey, editor’s note]?
Read also
- French Championships in Autrans: the 33.3 km mass-start classic for Mathis Desloges, Théo Schely and Jules Chappaz on the podium ahead of Thomas Joly
- Oye-et-Pallet: Thomas Joly triumphs in the first Haut-DoubsLoppet, Simon Vuillet and Victor Cullet-Calderini on the podium
- Thomas Joly gives his impressions to Nordic Magazine after finishing second in the Alliansloppet: “It’s encouraging for the future”.
- The complete calendar for the 2025/2026 Ski Classics season
