Lou Jeanmonnot wins the Antholz sprint, his fifth success of the season

After a decline at the end of 2024, Lou Jeanmonnot confirms his return to form. The current best French biathlete won the sprint of the World Cup stage in Antholz-Anterselva (Italy) on Thursday January 23, a few days after winning the individual event in Ruhpolding (Germany). The Franc-Comtoise is ahead of two German competitors, Selina Grotian, 2^eand her main rival this season, Franziska Preuss, 3^e.

In the Trentino-Alto Adige region, on the Italian-Austrian border, Lou Jeanmonnot claimed his fifth victory of the season. Not enough to close the gap on Franziska Preuss, still at the top of the general classification with 117 points ahead of her French runner-up. But the 26-year-old Frenchwoman is giving herself a little breathing room on her pursuer, the Swede Elvira Oeberg, winner of the mass start in Ruhpolding, but who gave up on lining up this week.

On the site where the 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, Les Bleues ideally launched the French team at the opening of this sixth stage of the World Cup, the last before the Worlds, scheduled for Switzerland from February 12 to 23 . They achieved a nice group shot, with four representatives in the Top 10: Lou Jeanmonnot in the lead, Julia Simon (5^e), Jeanne Richard (6^e) and Océane Michelon (7^e). Justine Braisaz-Bouchet took 16^e place.

A “deceptively easy” site

On January 25, the sixty best biathletes from this Thursday will meet for the pursuit, an event whose start is given according to the time differences between sprint competitors. And Lou Jeanmonnot will be able to claim a new podium, she who will start with 7 seconds ahead of Selina Grotian and 16 seconds over Franziska Preuss. Formidable in the exercise, Julia Simon, who will start with a handicap of 38 seconds, could smile again after a series of disappointing performances.

Between Friday and Sunday, four other races will take place in Antholz-Anterselva: the men’s sprint, Friday January 24; the men’s relay, Saturday January 25, then the women’s relay and the men’s pursuit, Sunday January 26. As Martin Fourcade, French biathlon legend, explained to Agence France-Presse, the Italian site if it is “without major difficulties”nonetheless remains “deceptively easy”. “These are very demanding races, at altitude, which affects the body, on a track that leaves no respite. »