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Renaud Jay and Richard Jouve, a duo in search of a world medal

They were already teaming up on Friday evening in the direction of Kranjska Gora (Slovenia) to attend the bronze medal presentation of their friend Jules Chappaz. Richard Jouve at the controls of the minibus with the French team logo and Renaud Jay behind him as a co-pilot with little concentration, while the winner of the small globe of the 2022 sprint had no time to lose.

The two will meet this Sunday in the team sprint. In a collective, which has become a Dream team over the years and even more since Thursday with a world bronze medalist who is only fourth French sprinter in the World Cup standings.

A choice had to be made. And as always, this was difficult for a team that won bronze in 2018 at the Pyeongchang Olympics (South Korea) but never won a medal at the Worlds. “I have my way of seeing the team sprint since this fall, explains Thibaut Chêne, the coach of French sprinters since the start of the season. We already discussed it with the boys. But the choice is not easy because the team is incredible. I have a medalist who is not in it (Chappaz), another who was in the final who is not in it (Lucas Chanavat, 6e). It’s always difficult to make compositions. You also have to know how to dose. »

For this meeting that the Blues have greatly checked in their quest for medals, the staff has therefore decided to trust the pair which imposed themselves on the same format on January 22 in Livigno (Italy) with Jouve, the leader for two seasons, and Jay, the experienced (31 years old) “on the podium of seniority” in the team as the founder Clément Parisse laughingly indicated before these Worlds.

“Richard is our Mbappé”

Thibaut Chêne, coach of the French sprinters

“It’s Renaud who will start the relay and Richard who will finish it, Oak decortic. Relay 1, I consider him a defensive midfielder, he only has to bring the relay back into contact, do the job. It is not there that it is necessary to make the difference. He is someone who must be all-terrain, versatile, to hold these first three laps. It’s a very thankless role, it’s the shadow worker. And then we have the striker. Richard is our Mbappé. He has the thickness with all the years he has done. He knows how to manage the slightly hot moments, the complicated situations in the race. It is the most likely to take this position of finisher. It’s up to him to put the ball in the bottom in the last lap. »

On this still very spectacular format (three laps for each athlete, alternately), the French will have a lot to do with in particular the Norwegians led by Paal Golberg (second overall in the World Cup) and Johannes Klaebo, titled for the third time in Thursday sprint. “The objective is the medal, to play with the best nations, concludes Oak. Norway will obviously be there, but Italy will be a serious client like Sweden. There’s a lot of density, it’s going to be a hell of a fight. »

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