Almost perfect against targets and very solid on the pistethe French dominate first relay men of the season. They won with a good margin over Norway and Suede.
An almost perfect copy for the Blues
While we were expecting Norway to be the big favorite, it was France who won thanks to an XXL performance. Simon Fourcade's men sign the first French victory of this season, and above all, return to the top step of a relay men's, something they had not done since their title of world champions in February 2023 in Oberhof. Relatively criticized last season for their results, the Blues show that they will have to be counted on this winter.
Each Frenchman recited his score wonderfully, starting with Fabien Claude who offered himself the first 10/10 of his career in a relay male. In the company of Sturla Holm Laegreid during almost the entirety of its relaythe Frenchman placed an attack in the big bump, distancing Norway who will never come back… never.
Behind, Quentin Fillon-Maillet et Eric Perrotalso impeccable against the targets, only increased the gaps. Having left ten seconds before the eldest of the Boe brothers, Quentin Fillon-Maillet pass the relay in the lead to the youngest of the team with a margin of thirty seconds over Norway. A gap that doubled the 23-year-old Savoyard.
All that remained wasEmilien Jacquelin who had the difficult task of concluding the great work of his teammates. Solid on his shot layerthe Jura player had to do it twice to whitewash his five targets on the standingcommitting the only two errors of the relay tricolor. In the end it's a 38/40, crowned with the best ski time (23 seconds better than the Norwegians)!
Second, Norway resists Sweden
Despite a team made up of the best in the world, the Norwegians had to settle for second place. Kept at a distance by the French, they were never really able to fight for victory. Always comfortable second after the passages of Sturla Holm Laegreid et Tarjei Boethey even had to work against the reigning world champions to maintain second place.
Relegated to seventh position after the relay of Viktor Brandt et Jesper NelinSweden was able to count on Martin Ponsiluoma since the Swede filled the thirty seconds which separated him fromChange Stroemsheim to give the relay in third position.
Too far to come back on the head at the start of the last relay, Johannes Boe et Sebastian Samuelsson embarked on a 100% Scandinavian duel for second place. If the Swede took the advantage on his shot layerit is ultimately the world number 1 who will have the last word on the standing thanks to a 5/5, while Samuelsson will draw twice.
The Germans (1+9), always on the lookout, fail in fourth place. At home, the Finns (0+4) took a good fifth place, just ahead of the United States (0+11).
Full results:
Photo credit: Manzoni / NordicFocus
