The biathletes of the French team performed well on Saturday in Chamonix during the Mont-Blanc Marathon.
Running is an integral part of the biathletes’ preparation. On Saturday in Chamonix, the Blues laced up their sneakers and put on a bib for the Mont Blanc Marathon (which offers several distances from 10 km to 80 km).
Anaëlle Bondoux, the little Isère model of the French B team, did very well by dominating the 23 km in 2h22’56”. A great performance.
“This is a first experience for me in trail running, I had only run on a shorter distance and a less alpine profile, explains the Grenoble native. It’s a great course, I really liked it, I had fun. I love running, even if I’m a biathlete and thanks to my sponsor Salomon, I can participate in events like this, a few times in the summer, it’s just for fun. This time, it’s perfect, we’re in the middle of physical preparation with the French team, it’s a lot of volume for us, especially in running.”
Over the same distance, Emilien Jacquelin took the 24e place (2h29’’17).
“I’m here to train because we’re in the middle of a volume cycle, I’m leaving on Monday with the French team (for Prémanon). The goal here is to work a little differently, I think that running, especially on moguls, can really help my VO2 max capabilities to climb well in the winter. The fact that there is no recovery possible with schuss like in cross-country skiing is also very interesting. The maximum duration of my effort is usually 45 minutes so I explore, the hardest part is muscularly between 1 hour and 1 hour 30 minutes then I move on and regain my endurance qualities. My mind helps me, I manage to keep calm even when it’s hard. I improved compared to last year in time and I also managed to lose less time on the descents. I also take the opportunity to be with my partners, to do something other than biathlon, we remain sports lovers above all. »
As for Julia Simon, she was lined up for 10 km and made it onto the podium (3e in 47”34) in Haute-Savoie.
