- After a break to take advantage of the birth of his first child, Johannes Boe is back to resume competition this weekend in Pokljuka.
- During his absence, Martin Fourcade regained his splendor by chaining the victories and took over the overall classification of the World Cup.
- The battle between the two men, which has never taken place in recent months, promises to be exciting this time.
As humanity entered the new decade, biathlon fell into a big spatio-temporal fault and returned in 2017. Result, Martin Fourcade started to explode targets like a cowboy and to win all the races individual in which he participated, from the top of his yellow bib. The competition, timidly led by Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Simon Desthieux, can do little better than stay in his retro and laugh at his imitations of Edouard Baer. In two stages of the World Cup, Fourcade became the strongest again and transformed the mirage of an eighth crystal globe into an achievable goal. But not everything will be as simple as the past two weeks. Johannes Boe has just ended his paternity leave to return to Pokljuka. Parenthesis closed. To stay the best, Martin will now have to beat the best.
Some figures on the start of the year 2020 for Fourcade
- 100% wins (excluding relays)
- Only two mistakes on the launch pad
- 40/40 in Ruhpolding
- 133 points ahead of Johannes Boe
Impressive stats, which one wonders if they did not give the chips a bit to Johannes Boe, pushing the latter to take back the skis a little earlier to limit the damage in the World Cup. A theory refuted by Siegfried Mazet, coach of the Norwegian team. “He wanted to live the great moment that is the birth of his son and stay with his wife. Her child was born on the 13th, if he had arrived later there is no doubt that Johannes would not have returned to Pokljuka. He would have returned later. "
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Gustav 💙🧸 13.01.20
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This version comes to contradict the plan of which the Norwegian spoke in November, namely that of a big break between Grand-Bornand and Antholz, both to welcome little Gustav and get some fresh air before the Worlds. “I'm leaving this winter on a new project hoping to arrive in great shape for the world championships in Antholz. If everything works, I might be able to copy it to prepare for the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, ”he said. Well, suddenly it's missed, and we will not be taken from our heads that all this is exclusively the fault of Fourcade. Isn't it Siegfried. Not yet ?
“We make the effort not to watch too much what's going on next. If you copy your strategy on others, it is because already in your head you are behind the competition. So if Johannes is able to do it, we will do what we have always done so far, print a big rhythm from the start and ensure on the launch pad. "
On the other side of the mirror, the speech is at least as chilly. Mazet's French counterpart, Vincent Vittoz, also draws attention to the question. "I don't mix with Johannes enough to know if he's scared or not." He will surely be fresh and revengeful. We just try to guide the guys to stay focused on them. Whether he is back or not does not change the idea of racing as usual. It would be disrespectful to other opponents. But what other adversaries? Even Tarjei Boe, to whom the yellow bib seemed promised, ended up liquefying in the absence of the little brother.
Keeping confidence despite the return of Johannes Boe
A little frustrating, the response of the former founder. But perhaps it is with the idea of pretending that Johannes Boe is not there that resides Fourcade's salvation. Because, as he admitted at the microphone of The L'Equipe chain at Oberhof, his average results at the start of the season were explained by a double precipitation - on skis and shooting - linked to the desire to follow the frantic pace of his rival. As a result, a lot of faults and disappointing sprints, compromising any chance of catching up on the pursuit. Without Boe, Fourcade "manages to stall its course (s) on its own landmarks and not on someone else", which he needed "to regain the lost confidence".
It remains to continue reproducing this diagram in the presence of the boss. What he himself does not seem to be 4000% sure of. It is also very elusive that he had left Ruhpolding. "Everyone expects that the truth of today will be" challenged "tomorrow and that will be the case because we do biathlon. Vincent Vittoz is convinced that his rider is better armed than at the start of the season. “Martin was looking for certainties about his physique after the past season when he had fewer sensations, even if it meant ensuring shots a little less. After his interesting start to the ski season, he ended up refocusing on his shooting. "
"We are preparing for this duel with Martin"
Johannes Boe was obviously not idle during his break. The reigning world champion followed a program validated by his coaches, with whom he stayed in contact "every two or three days," according to Mazet.
“Johannes was not sick, he trained, he will be cool. On the other hand perhaps it will miss a little rhythm. We will have to get back on this train fast enough because for its part the competition led by Martin has chained the races. "
Because he undoubtedly remains attached to his former foal and that like any self-respecting biathlon lover, he wants to see the spain at the top, Mazet says he is curious to see what will give this last third of the biathlon season. “We were wondering when we were going to have the Martin-Johannes duel again this season. For the moment we never had it. First Martin was in better shape and Johannes a bit inside [in Ostersund] then the reverse. There has never been this mano à mano. Now, we are preparing for this duel with Martin. But you never know, maybe Johannes will come back more introverted, or whatever, and he won't be on the same level. It would surprise me, because he's not the kind of boy who loses confidence like that. I just hope he will be able to get back on track quickly. This is the only question. "
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