Cross-country skiing: Lucas Chanavat’s form continues to rise
Lucas Chanavat starts to make Toblach (Italy) his new garden. This Saturday, the French founder has indeed conquered his third career podium on this sprint skate of the cross-country skiing world cup. A nice introduction to the nineteenth edition of the Tour de Ski for the Bornandin who shone last year in winning the points jersey of the competition.
At the microphone of Nordic Magazinethe tricolor returns to his second podium of the winter after the one added to his assets on December 14 in Davos (Suisse).
- First of all, how did you feel after the ten days of break which followed the stage in Davos (Switzerland)?
It wasn’t in great shape yet, but that’s okay. The body still responded. I feel like I’m still missing a bit to really play well, but that’s okay. I am happy with the result.
- This form that you seem to be chasing, is it intentional not to be at your best at this time of the season?
This is not necessarily intended. I was quite ill in the fall, so obviously that set me back. It wasn’t ideal, and I think I might be a little bit out of step compared to others. But I know that it will come back very quickly and that it is going in the right direction.
- Last year, you won ahead of Jules Chappaz on this track. What are its specificities?
This track is still a super tactical track. You know anything can happen here. It’s a bit special. Qualification is a race separate from the rest of the tournament. Here, you really have the phenomenon of aspiration at play. It can really turn upside down because you can have clashes and today there were a lot of them. This can quickly become dangerous so you need to take shelter.
- You still finish second and you have another podium. This should still satisfy you…
Yes it’s really cool! I am happy with this second place. Afterwards, it’s a little frustrating because, at the end of the race, I missed it a little. I didn’t manage to take the same last turn as in the semi-final where 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. Afterwards, I was so focused on passing Johannes [Hoesflot Klæbo, NDLR] that I tried too hard and it made me “unski”. I will remember it for the future.
“It’s very cool to see him again in the final”Lucas Chanavat on Richard Jouve at Nordic Magazine
- In the final, you were also with your compatriot Richard Jouve. Was it pleasant to find yourself in the last lap?
It’s been a while and it hasn’t really mattered. I didn’t really follow exactly what happened. But it’s definitely very cool to see him again in the final. It’s also good because his form is improving, and on the Tour, he will play in many formats. I think it will get better and better for him and it will do him good.
- You will still wear the points jersey this Sunday. What will be your objective with the latter?
I still have the point jersey tomorrow [dimanche] by proxy as Johannes has both. I will try to defend him as much as possible. We’ll see what happens. The objective will be to recover it in the next races. This will not be easy tomorrow because the intermediate point for the sprint is far away on the route. It’s more distance points than sprint points [Rires]. It’s a big challenge. I also take this opportunity to send a thought to Cyprien [Sarrazin, victime d’une lourde chute à Bormio (Italie) vendredi, NDLR] and all the French downhillers who are super inspiring guys.
