One Month: Gearing Up for International Biathlon Competitions
As I write this, I’m not in France, and that can only mean one thing: Something very good has happened.
I left you on the eve before the second stage of the French biathlon cup in Les Saisies. A sprint and a pursuit were on the program, two races I was really looking forward to after a great week of training in the high-altitude ski resort. Those races have now passed. The following weekend the IBU Biathlon World Cup was held in France, I had some great friends racing and performing but that has also passed. Then we had Christmas and New Year’s Eve and a lot of turkey and pudding has been eaten but all this is now behind us. So, let’s break down the last 30 days of racing and training and catch up to speed with what I’ve been doing.
Was spending a week getting acclimatized worth it?
The stakes were high, coming into these races all the men knew that the best two athletes from the weekend would get in a bus that following Monday and drive over to Obertilliach to participate in the third stop of the IBU Cup circuit. This was clearly my objective as well after having had a difficult start to the season in Bessans during November and December. I was feeling really good and couldn’t have been any more excited to get the racing started.
As for the last French Cup races I recorded my thoughts on the evening after the race on Sunday. These thoughts are raw and the most authentic way for you to properly experience what I am feeling before, during and after my races.
Pre-Race
I came into this race weekend really excited. I was feeling decent. I’ve had some really good training sessions over the last few weeks. I was, yeah, incredibly excited to start racing. And there was the opportunity for me to rejoin the international circuit this weekend. So that’s obviously, a little bit of added pressure. But it’s something that I’d like to say I can deal with now. It’s something I can manage. But it’s always in the back of your head, it’s always a possibility. Two athletes from this weekend’s racing were going to rejoin the international circuit. So, it’s just something I had in my mind.
The day before the races, when I did my shakedown session, everything was going all right physically. My skiing was good, technique was good, form was good. But my shooting wasn’t great. Technically, my prone wasn’t feeling amazing. My standing wasn’t really very well either. And when we turned up to our accommodation, exactly the same accommodation as last year, and just like last year, it was absolutely freezing. It wasn’t just cold. We were shivering. I had to go to bed with a coat, a scarf, and lots of clothes to not freeze overnight.
But apart from that, everything went good, and I woke up on Saturday morning, race morning, feeling really excited.
Race One, Sprint 10km
So, Saturday morning. Warm-up went alright, zeroing went alright as well. First lap, incredibly fast. I did a good time, it wasn’t the fastest time, but it was a time I was happy with. Then, first prone, 2 out of 5, which is just not the level I need to be pushing. Why 2 out of 5? I don’t really know. When I looked at my impacts after the race, they were kind of all over. It’s disappointing because I’ve been shooting really well prone this year, and it completely pushed me out of my race. After the third-best time on the first loop, I had the 16th-best time on the second loop. Slowed down quite a bit; three penalty loops don’t help.
Then I got to my standing, and 3 out of 5. So, 5 out of 10 overall. Shooting on the weekend was appalling. I was properly disappointed because my ski form was there. Eighth-best time of the day, fifth-best time on the last lap, and overall eighth-best time. I’m less than 20 seconds off the winning time, which is really good. But it’s annoying because my shins, were feeling much better than they have been since the beginning of the year.
I wasn’t particularly annoyed while racing, but I just wasn’t able to put the race I wanted together and sadly finished 25th, which is my worst result this year so far. I was disappointed. I was extremely gutted. It’s not the race I wanted to put together. Still, I had a proper recovery session in the afternoon and got refocused for the pursuits happening today as I’m talking.
Race Two, Pursuit 12,5km
This morning’s pursuit, I had nothing to lose, really. It was just full gas from the start all the way to the finish line. That’s what I set off doing. Ninth-best time on the first loop, went off really fast. A good five out of five followed by another really good four out of five on the second lap. It was the best ski time on the second and third laps, probably motivated by the fact I’d done a good shot. It showed that even skiing fast, I can still put four out of five bullets in.
But then we got to the standing, and that’s when everything just kind of let loose, sadly. My first standing was appalling, two out of five, three penalty loops, and it completely pushed me out of the race. When I exited the prone, I was 13th, having started in 25th, so in theory a really good race, but just not what I wanted because that first standing completely pushed me out of it.
It’s what’s been lacking since the beginning of the year, my standing shots. My last one was all right, four out of five, but by that time, I was out of the race, sadly. Even though I finished 19th overall, it was just over for me. I couldn’t do anything about it at all.
Overall, it was quite an average weekend as a whole and based on what I wanted to achieve. Even though the ski shape was there and I’m happy with that, the overall results were appalling and a long way from what I needed to produce. I was very happy for my good friend Mathieu, who put in some excellent racing over the weekend and will get to go and race internationally in the IBU Cup the following week. For me, it’s just going to be back home now, resting, and hopefully, I can recover and be 100% for the next races to come.
Three weeks to be ready again for the new year.
So I didn’t manage to qualify and that meant that for me, my racing was over for the year 2024. But not all things are bad and the advantage of not having to travel that week meant I was able to be in France during the French World Cup week. I’m going to write a full newsletter entry about my time at the IBU World Cup in Annecy le Grand Bornand but one thing that I can tell you right away is that despite the appalling weather on Sunday. Getting to watch my great friend Jeanne Richard achieve her first career flower ceremony two days in a row during the pursuit and the mass start was absolutely amazing and I’m extremely grateful that I was able to be there to see her compete.
The main activity of my three weeks at home however was a lot of training. The aim when you have such a long break like this during the middle of the winter is to try and get some base endurance training hours in. This is really important because when we are constantly racing we don’t really get the time to train at all because we are either recovering from the previous weekend or getting ready for the next race. So after a calm week of resting following the races in les Saisies during the Christmas period, I put a lot of training hours in. You can see this really clearly by looking at the chart of my training hours down below.
My next races were only 3 days into January, which meant that there was no partying allowed for me on New Year’s Eve. I joined Jeanne Richard and Maya Cloetens for a calm evening away from all the craziness which goes on in our ski resort. Jeanne had prepared us some wild boar which tasted absolutely amazing and was the perfect meal to finish off the year. New Year’s Day was also spent on the skis, we all drove over to Les Contamines to use the shooting range they have. As you can see by looking at the graph above there aren’t many days where I did biathlon during the Christmas break mainly due to the fact that there is no shooting range where I live. So this trip to Les Contamines was great to get back into the rhythm before the next races.
New year, first races, how am I feeling?
As the first races of the year are approaching some very good news is sent out to the trainers of each regional training group. There are 3 places for the IBU Cup up for grabs after the two races in Prémanon. This makes me really excited because I’ve put in some really good work throughout the break and I can’t wait to prove I’m capable of racing internationally again. There is a sprint and a mass start on the program. Two great races in which I know I’m capable of doing great.
We turn up to Prémanon on Friday morning for our pre-race shakedown. The piste was really badly prepared, and everyone was really annoyed. There is a great amount of snow on the tracks and they aren’t capable of providing us with proper conditions to race in. This is often the case here in Prémanon which is really not a great look knowing this piste is also where the national training centre is located. We get our session done however and then head to our accommodation for the weekend. The weather forecast is announcing gale-force winds all weekend which will make these races extremely complicated. In French, we like to say ça va être la loterie because of how random the wind can be for each athlete when it’s their turn to shoot.
Here are my thoughts from the weekend:
Pre-Race
We’re the day before racing at the National Training Centre in the Jura, sleeping in the chalets, which doesn’t happen very often when you’re not part of the Federation, so that’s fun. It’s always very exciting being in the chalets, nice and relaxing. I also have a room to myself, so that’s even better. Not gonna complain, are we?
Happy with how today went. Tough session on the piste, but feeling all right. The body seemed to respond correctly. Hopefully, it lasts the three laps tomorrow. That would be absolutely amazing. Shooting, there’s a little bit of disturbance on the prone, but the standing was good. I just need to focus, breathe, think about what I know how to do, and it should all be all right. Hopefully. I can’t see why it won’t be.
But no, happy. Happy. Today went well. I haven’t been very productive this afternoon, but I cleaned the gun, stretched, did some dry-shooting, and watched some darts, a little bit, anyway. Wake up at a reasonable time tomorrow, because I’m racing in the afternoon. I’m excited to get started, let’s go.
Race One, Sprint 10km
First race of the weekend. The day started off with a really nice classic skiing session in the cold. Just sun, perfect snow, with my friend Valentin, so that was really fun. Came home, stretched, rested a lot. Went to eat, then got ready for the race. Turned up to the venue. Weather was still great, but you could sense in the air that it was going to rain at some point, you could just see it.
We tested the skis, and that was a bit of a panic because everyone was running a little late. I wasn’t 100% convinced with my final choice, but it is what it is. Then the rain started falling quite heavily. Freezing rain, probably the worst conditions you could ever have. It was really windy as well, just not what you want for a biathlon race.
The race happened. 3 out of 5 prone, 4 out of 5 standing, 7 out of 10, and I finished top 9, which is my best result of the year. I’m happy, obviously, it’s my best result, so I can’t not be happy. But it’s just missing a little something to be a really good race, sadly. I know I can be on the podium on a day like today, and I wasn’t able to do it. That’s always a little bit annoying, but I’ll focus now on tomorrow and see what I can do.
Dad and Molly came to watch, which was really nice. I always like having family members there to watch me, especially Molly with her crutches and everything. It meant a lot that she could come, so I was really happy.
Race two, Mass Start 60 12,5km
There are some days in the year where everything just works. Everything you’ve been working for, well, I won’t say it pays off, because it’s not exactly what I’ve been working for, but it’s what I’ve been able to achieve with what’s happened to me over the last few weeks.
I’ve been working all summer, and for years before, to be on the IBU Cup circuit, and I haven’t managed to achieve that yet this year. But today I woke up a little tired, feeling all right. Tested the skis and realized I had a very good pair, like a very, very good pair. Raced in the wind, a lot of wind, exactly the same as yesterday, and finished on the podium, top three behind a World Cup athlete, Mr. Quentin Fillon Maillet, and a good friend of mine who was in second.
When you look at the performance, though, 12 out of 20 on shooting isn’t good. It isn’t good at all. We aim for 100%, and we were so far away from that today. But I’m really happy. You know, when weekends like this happen, you take them, you cherish them, and you appreciate that you’re able to do it sometimes.
So this evening, I’m really happy. I’ve achieved what I wanted. I’ll be racing on the IBU Cup circuit next week in Germany, and I’m excited. I can’t wait. I know I’m capable of racing there. One of my teammates, who trained with me all year, is already there, and he’s doing good races, and I know I’m able to beat him.
So let’s go. Let’s focus. Let’s not get overexcited, but let’s appreciate when things do go right. And today, everything went right, so I’m happy.
So there you have it, the first IBU Cup races this season. The last time I raced on the circuit was in December 2021 and I haven’t returned since. Back then I finished outside of the top 100 for two races in a row. It was hard but an amazing experience. I’ve grown a lot since then, I’ve evolved as an athlete and as a competitor. These races don’t scare me anymore. I’m going there to perform, to achieve top 10 finishes not just to gain experience like it was the objective back in 2021. I’m joining a team full of amazing athletes, people I have trained with who are still active members of the French national team and my teammate Gaetan who I’ve trained with over the past year with the Haute Savoie Nordic Team. Arber is a new race location for me but one the IBU Cup circuit goes to often, from what I’ve heard it’s a great place to go racing.
Let’s get this international season started, focus on what’s next and I’ll be sure to keep you all updated quickly. Be sure to follow my socials Instagram, TikTok or Strava to stay up to date with all the most recent info from my races.