In pole position in the race for the big globe which rewards the best biathlete of the winter, Simon saves his strength on the eve of the mass start on Sunday and in view of the last three races of the season the following week in Oslo.

Even without it, Lou Jeanmonnot, Chloé Chevalier, Caroline Colombo and Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet, who used seven pickaxe balls, took second place in Oestersund.

They finished fifteen seconds behind Norway led by Marte Olsbu Roeiseland (4 picks), and twelve seconds ahead of Germany's Denise Herrmann-Wick (7 picks).

The French women's team, victorious in two of the five winter relays (excluding Worlds) and on a third podium on Saturday, totals 345 points in the specialty classification and is ahead of Norway (325 points) and Sweden (321 points).

Les Bleues had not won the small relay globe since 2012, at the time of Marie Dorin and Marie-Laure Brunet.

"It rewards the work of the whole team, it touches me, it makes me happy," explained Chloé Chevalier at the microphone of the L'Equipe channel to explain her few tears.

This trophy illustrates, beyond the relay, the great collective form they have shown throughout the season - even in the absence of the Olympic champion of the mass start Justine Braisaz, on maternity break.

The French women's biathlon team with (from left to right) Caroline Colombo, Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet, Lou Jeanmonnot and Chloé Chevalier won the small crystal globe of the relay on March 11 in Oestersund (Sweden) © Anders WIKLUND / TT News Agency/AFP

Density

In total, the French women climbed on fifteen individual podiums (excluding Worlds).

All with four different biathletes, most often Simon (9), but also Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet (4), her sister Chloé (1), and Lou Jeanmonnot (1).

The French Eric Perrot (C) and Fabien Claude (D) during the World Cup relay in Oestersund (Sweden) counting for the Biathlon World Cup, March 11, 2023 © Anders WIKLUND / TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP

"This year is the first time that I have seen such a dense team, it's great", testifies Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet, the most experienced of them, at 30 years old.

The hiccup of winter nevertheless came at the worst time, at the Oberhof Worlds (Germany) in February, where Les Bleues finished at the foot of the podium.

Norway, France, Germany: The men's relay ended on the same podium as the women's race earlier in the day.

The elite of the men's circuit having been decimated by an epidemic of Covid-19, Johannes Boe and his brother Tarjei in the lead, as well as another Norwegian, Sturla Laegreid, the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson and Quentin Fillon Maillet, the race was announced. open, like the individual two days earlier.

It is still Norway, with an unprecedented quartet (Stroemsheim, Soerum, Dale and Christiansen), which won (7 picks), as during the first four men's relays of the winter in the World Cup.

With Oscar Lombardot, Antonin Guigonnat, Eric Perrot and Fabien Claude, the Blues were in the fight for victory on the last shot standing, but the penalty round taken by Claude made them lose any chance.

They finished 22 seconds (1 lap and 8 pickaxes) from the Norwegians, and fifteen seconds ahead of the Germans (1 lap and 10 pickaxes).

© 2023 AFP