The day before, Julia Simon, leader of the general classification of the World Cup, had experienced a sudden failure in shooting and her worst result of the winter, 18th in pursuit with a poor 13/20 behind the rifle.

Then no French had made a place in the top 10 of the men's pursuit (Fillon Maillet 13th and Jacquelin 14th at best).

In the position of last torchbearer on Sunday, Simon ideally raised his head with the support of his teammates, in the order Lou Jeanmonnot and the Chevalier sisters, Anaïs and Chloé.

Almost perfect on the shooting range, the French only used two pickaxe balls in total and won well ahead of the Sweden of the Oeberg sisters, trailing by 45 seconds, and Germany, pushed back more than '1 min 15 sec (without Herrmann-Wick).

The Italy of Lisa Vittozzi and Dorothea Wierer finished at the foot of the podium.

"Bad performances happen, the most important thing is how we get up, says Simon at the microphone of the L'Equipe channel. Today (Sunday), I wanted to do much better than yesterday (Saturday). I really tried to put my last strength in the right place, at the right time. (...) It's great to start on a good note."

Simon "mentally exhausted"

Asked about her disappointment experienced 24 hours earlier, "physically, it responds rather well, but I'm a little mentally exhausted, I find it difficult to maintain concentration, we know that we pay cash", replies the Savoyard from 26 years old, who discovers the status of a serious contender for the big crystal globe.

The French Quentin Fillon-Maillet (g) and Emilien Jacquelin during the relay, January 22, 2023 in Antholz (Italy) © Vincenzo PINTO / AFP

Simon and her teammates, already victorious in Hochfilzen (Austria) in December, will thus approach the Worlds in Oberhof, Germany (February 8-19), on the strength of two successes in four relays run this season.

"Obviously it gives great desires," smiles Chloé Chevalier, the third torchbearer of the day.

On the men's side, the day after a sad Saturday behind the rifle, the Blues also found a smile by climbing to the second step of the podium in the Italian mountains.

Admittedly, Antonin Guigonnat, Fabien Claude, Emilien Jacquelin and Quentin Fillon Maillet could not compete with the irresistible Norwegians (Laegreid, Tarjei and Johannes Boe, Christiansen), victorious for the fourth time this winter in as many relays contested.

This time, 59 seconds ahead of the French quartet and more than two minutes over Germany.

But the blue relay obtained its best result of the season, after two third places (in Kontiolahti and Ruhpolding) and a fourth (in Hochfilzen).

Both Norwegians and French used six pickaxe balls.

"It shows the character of the team, the energy we can have. Lately, maybe we had fallen asleep, maybe we were thinking too much about the result rather than doing (the things ) above all, explains Jacquelin. Today, we all had great races, we showed character, that's how we're going to have good World Championships."

© 2023 AFP