Cross-country skiing : Lucas Chanavat’s form continues to improve
Lucas Chanavat is starting to make Toblach (Italy) his new home. On Saturday, the French cross-country skier claimed his third career podium in this cross-country skiing world cup sprint. It was a fine start to the nineteenth edition of the Tour de Ski for the Bornandin, who shone last year by taking the points jersey in the competition.
Speaking to Nordic Magazinethe Frenchman looks back on his second podium finish of the winterfollowing the one he added on December 14th in Davos (Switzerland).
- First of all, how did you feel after the ten-day break that followed the Davos (Switzerland) stage?
It wasn’t great form yet, but that’s OK. The body still responded. I feel that I’m still lacking a bit to really play well, but that’s fine. I’m happy with the result.
- This form you seem to be chasing, is it deliberate not to be at your best at this point in the season?
It’s not necessarily intentional. I was quite ill in the autumn, so obviously that delayed me. It wasn’t ideal, and I think I’m perhaps a little out of step with some people. But I know it’s going to come back very quickly and that it’s going in the right direction.
- Last year, you won ahead of Jules Chappaz on this route. What makes it special?
This track is super tactical. You know that anything can happen here. It’s a bit special. Qualifying is a race apart from the rest of the tournament. Here, you really have the suction effect. Things can really change because you can have collisions and today there were a lot of them. It can be dangerous very quickly, so you have to take cover.
- Still, you finished second and took another podium finish. You must be pleased…
Yes, it’s really cool! I’m happy with second place. After that, it’s a bit frustrating because, at the end of the race, I got it a bit wrong. I didn’t manage to take the same last bend as in the semi-final, when I was really good on the straight. There, I made a small mistake in the bend and another at the start of the straight which cost me a lot of speed. After that, I was so focused on getting past Johannes [Hoesflot Klæbo, editor’s note] that I put too much effort into it and that’s what made me go off the pace. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.
“It’s great to see him back in the final”.Lucas Chanavat talks to Nordic Magazine about Richard Jouve
- In the final, you were also up against your compatriot Richard Jouve. Was it pleasing to find yourself in the last round?
It had been a while and it didn’t really come down to anything. I didn’t follow exactly what happened. But it’s certainly very cool to see him back in the final. It’s also good because his form is improving, and on the Tour, he’s going to play on a lot of formats. I think it’s going to get better and better for him and that’s going to be good for him.
- You’ll be wearing the points jersey again this Sunday. What will be your objective with the points jersey?
I still have the points jersey tomorrow [Sunday] by proxy as Johannes has both. I’m going to try to defend it as best I can. We’ll see what happens. The aim will be to get it back in the next races. It’s not going to be easy from tomorrow because the intermediate point for the sprint is a long way down the course. It’s more distance points than sprint points [laughs]. It’s a big challenge. I’d also like to take this opportunity to spare a thought for Cyprien [Sarrazin, who suffered a heavy fall in Bormio (Italy) on Friday, editor’s note] and all the French downhillers who are great, inspirational guys.
