Le Grand-Bornand (France) (AFP)

Johannes Boe, winner of two races out of the three contested at Grand-Bornand this weekend, continues to crush the Biathlon World Cup but France, which has still placed one of its own on the podium Sunday (Emilien Jacquelin), makes resistance thanks to an exceptional density.

Boe's statistics are enough to discourage his opponents. Flying over the mass start in the Haute-Savoie resort, the Norwegian (26 years old) has signed his 5th victory in 7 races since the start of the season and it is difficult to see at this pace that could prevent him from gleaning a 2nd large consecutive crystal globe.

Impressive on skis, which allows him to have at least one or even two balls ahead of the competition, Boe seems untouchable and it is not the break scheduled in January due to paternity that is likely to change the situation at overall classification, even if his older brother Tarjei is only 61 points behind his younger brother.

"Johannes showed everyone that he was unbeatable, said Martin Fourcade. I found him at the start of the season less impactful than what he had shown last winter but on the last two stages of the World Cup , he showed something incredible. "

To maintain a semblance of suspense and avoid a monotonous winter, there is therefore Tarjei Boe but also the Blues, who have positioned four biathletes among the first 7 of the general (Quentin Fillon-Maillet 3rd, Martin Fourcade 4th, Simon Desthieux 5th, Emilien Jacquelin 7th) and can bet on a group with an overall level never seen before. If Fourcade is no longer the undisputed king of the discipline and this alien who could intimidate teammates and rivals, France has found other reasons to hope.

- "The Martin effect" -

After the two podiums at Fillon-Maillet (3rd in the sprint, 2nd in the pursuit), it was Emilien Jacquelin who rocked the crowd on Sunday in large numbers in Grand-Bornand despite complicated weather conditions and uninterrupted rain. The young Frenchman (24 years old), still tender last season, took on a new dimension and his 2nd place on the mass start behind the untouchable Johannes Boe, his best result in the World Cup, demonstrated the formidable resources of the Blues.

"We are all able to grab the first places, said Emilien Jacquelin. It's a bit like the Advent calendar, every day there is one that" perf "+. This is what makes our strength."

For Simon Desthieux, even if Martin Fourcade is no longer the dominant biathlete on the circuit, it is he who inspired the blue collective and gave a boost to a discipline that has become very popular in France, as proven by l crowd (60,000 spectators over four days) and the crazy atmosphere of this weekend in Grand-Bornand.

"It's the Martin effect, he explained. We rubbed shoulders with him in younger training, we know what we have to achieve on a daily basis to seek excellence. which makes us have such crazy density. "

Meanwhile, the main interested party is still looking for its form of yesteryear. 12th in sprint, 7th in pursuit then 5th in mass start in Grand-Bornand, Fourcade is still very far from the mark and has himself judged his first part of the season "neither good nor bad" before being positive.

"At the accounting level, it may not be as good, but at the level of mindset and dynamics, it has nothing to do with last year, said the five-time Olympic champion. learn to play with new weapons. These are not the results of my 20 years but I feel that on all the races, I am able to win and that was not the case last year. I miss a little of freshness on the skis. This will be the key to the Christmas period and set off on a little more muscular work to arrive on a triptych in January (Oberhof, Ruhpolding, Pokljuka, editor's note) which generally succeeds me fairly well. "

© 2019 AFP