Fabien Claude led the French mixed relay to victory. MICHAL CIZEK / AFP
The mixed relay composed of Jeanmonnot, Colombo, Perrot and Claude won this Sunday during the Biathlon World Cup.
The French Lou Jeanmonnot, Caroline Colombo, Eric Perrot and Fabien Claude won the mixed relay (4×6 km) in Nove Mesto (Czech Republic) on Sunday, counting for the Biathlon World Cup.
Bronze medalist at the World Championships in Oberhof (Germany) a month ago, but with a totally different composition, the French mixed relay beat Sweden and Norway. The French sign their second victory in the mixed relay of the winter after Pokljuka (Slovenia) at the beginning of January. In the lead when taking the last stint, Fabien Claude was imperial behind the rifle, clearing his ten targets without any pickaxe bullets, while the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson, faster than Fabien Claude on skis, had to pick at four times (twice on the prone shot and twice on the standing shot). On a firing point swept by an irregular wind, the French were the strongest with only a total of seven pickaxes, against 18 for Sweden and 16 for Norway.
The French yet deprived of Jacquelin and Fillon-Maillet
«It’s huge, it makes me really happy to be able to play for this first victory today. It’s crazy to experience that next to the track, to have to watch the last shot. It’s not like in the public, it’s still different. It’s a huge feeling to see Fabien fill up“commented Eric Perrot at the microphone of the L’Equipe channel. The French were deprived of Emilien Jacquelin on Sunday, who ended his season, and Quentin Fillon-Maillet, positive for Covid and package.
The Covid has also made a strong comeback on the Biathlon World Cup: tested positive for Covid on Saturday, the leader of the general classification, the Norwegian Johannes Boe gave up the relays on Sunday, but all the same participated on Saturday in the lawsuit (which he won) while knowing he was positive for the virus.
