Without Fourcade, what will the France team's season look like?

Emilien Jacquelin (left) and Quentin Fillon Maillet (right) are the new leaders of the French biathlon team.

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• You were all impatiently waiting for it, it is finally here.

  The new biathlon season starts on Saturday with a first stop in Kontiolahti (Finland).

• Deprived of the neo-retired Martin Fourcade, the French team is approaching the World Cup with a new hierarchy in which Fillon Maillet acts as leader.

• The shadow of Covid-19, on the other hand, risks hovering all season long on the health bubble set up by the International Biathlon Federation.

We do not yet know what the world will look like after Covid-19, but we are already starting to get an idea of ​​what the world (of biathlon) will be like according to Martin Fourcade, as the new season starts on Saturday in Kontiolahti, Finland.

Orphan of its gluttonous leader, spent very close last year to a last big globe before putting away the skis (Boe beat it in the general classification by two tiny points), the French biathlon team is preparing for change of era.

But when we ask the question to Vincent Vittoz, the coach of the men's team, he returns the report to us.

“It's more for Martin than for us that the period that starts will be less obvious to live, he says.

He will suddenly find himself a spectator.

I would say that it is he who is the orphan of us more than the opposite.

We are launched, we are already in our routine and we are focused on our goals ”.

And our galleys, one would be tempted to add.

The big heat of the France team

It must be said that the French staff has had other things to think about since his arrival at Kontiolahti than to wonder if Martin Fourcade was living his new retirement life serenely in front of

.

To tell you, until late Thursday, the French even wondered if they were going to be able to take the start of the World Cup.

The reasons for this heatstroke?

A staff physiotherapist tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in Finland and the risk, already, of seeing the health bubble set up by the International Biathlon Federation (IBU) shattering to transform into a

.

As soon as the news broke, the France team took all preventive measures by double-locking the athletes in their rooms and by putting together a file to show white paw with the IBU and the Norwegian health authorities.

Falling ill on November 3 and not showing any symptoms for a while now, the physiotherapist was probably the victim of a false positive on Wednesday.

Finally, the answer fell on Thursday afternoon: the French team will be at the start of the races on Saturday.

More than a relief, a release.

Quentin Fillon Maillet: “When we got tested yesterday [Wednesday], we laughed and said to ourselves that we were playing our season on this test, but in fact it was really that.

We will say that we were acquitted by the Finnish authorities

.

It's a good reminder, we tell ourselves that everything can change from one moment to another.

It's scary, we work for months to prepare everything and if it starts like that… "

“Between the stadium and the hotel, we won't be able to do anything”, Mazet tells the IBUlle https://t.co/1XJr9oNz1p

- 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) November 26, 2020

However, everything has been done by the French staff to avoid the worst this season.

The biathletes will work the whole season in pairs.

“There are two of us per room, we always have to eat with your partner and with no one else,” QFM decrypts.

The only other people we are allowed to see are the physiotherapists ”.

If they are really

, then.

Necessary precautions, everyone is aware of it, but in a discipline where athletes never spit "on the small beer all together after the podiums", according to QFM, this season will have the appearance of a long solitary ordeal.

A new hierarchy but identical objectives

And yet, to deserve it, this beer, we will have to continue to climb the podiums.

A more difficult objective when you lose your undisputed leader.

Be careful, we are not saying that without Fourcade France loses all chance of medals.

You just have to take a quick glance at the standings of the last World Cup (QFM 3rd, Jacquelin 5th, Desthieux 6th) to convince yourself that we still have very, very good clothes on the line. starting point.

Former biathlete Simon Fourcade nods.

“It is not said that, because Martin is no longer there, Johannes Boe will win with disconcerting ease.

I think on the contrary that it can free up new vocations for other athletes.

Some will certainly feel more invested, it is up to them to take responsibility, to accept to show themselves more because they no longer have an undisputed leader to hide behind, in quotes.

"

For the elder Fourcade, they are ready to take up the torch of the brother.

“We've seen them perform for a number of years now.

Quentin [Fillon Maillet], we feel that he wants to assert himself as the new leader of this team but Emilien [Jacquelin] will also have his say.

“Asked about his new role, Fillon-Maillet does not hide, but he knows that at the finish it is the race that will make everyone agree.

“It's true that I was given the leader's cap because of my good results last season, and that suits me well, but it will also depend on the results of the first races.

"If the hierarchy was confirmed in the wake by Vincent Vittoz, Thursday by videoconference, that does not prevent Simon Fourcade from seeing further.

“It can also be part of the problems that the French may encounter this year, because Quentin is not alone.

Emilien is there, full of panache, and he is only waiting for one thing to assert himself in a personal capacity.

There is Simon [Desthieux], who certainly has a more reserved character, who puts himself less forward, but who does not aspire to play a role less this season.

This may be where the key to the French team's season will lie: we will have to manage the egos which will assert themselves even more with the departure of Martin.

"For the moment, the question does not arise, according to QFM:" We get along really well, we had a good preparation, we have a team that is really good, I enjoyed working with them.

We are all very strong, that should allow us to go even further.

I hope that we will be even stronger this season and that we can compete even more with Johannes [Boe].

"

Towards a new Franco-Norwegian duel

“We can't do without Martin overnight so easily,” admits coach Vincent Vittoz.

It means fewer benchmarks, especially in terms of form, to gauge.

"In any case the roadmap is clear:" We consider all the athletes on the same level, we do not want to neglect anyone, the objective is to build a large collective.

We will not replace Martin's record, it's almost obvious, but we know that we have valuable athletes to still be a leading nation in world biathlon.

On this point, we do not have the slightest doubt.

Barring a disaster and other galleys linked to Covid-19, the hierarchy in place last season should not change one iota, France and Norway once again seeming to be well on their way to help themselves before the others at the grand buffet of victories.

Because it must be said, there is a world between these two nations and the rest of the world.

Last year, they both won 19 of the 21 events, placed eight men (four each, no jealousy) in the Top 10 and won all the small globes.

Simon Fourcade: “There are certain athletes and certain nations who are starting to point the tip of their noses and who could play spoilsport occasionally, but from there to come to question the Franco-Norwegian hegemony on the circuit, j can't believe it.

Let the fight begin.

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• Biathlon

• Quentin Fillon Maillet

• Martin Fourcade

• Simon fourcade