I think I am better than last year”

Perrot admitted to Nordic Magazine that he was also quite satisfied with his performance, shooting clean while flying around the tracks, burying second place Fabien Claude by 54.9 seconds and Florent Claude third by 1:39.4. Olympic Sprint Champion Quentin Fillon Maillet was fast on the tracks, but three penalties pushed him to fourth, 1:41.2 back “I came here to work on everything I put in place over the summer. My training was great. I wanted to confirm my form and this is a good confirmation…I feel I have taken another step forward and I think I am better than last year.”

After the Pursuit, he added, “I was more tired than in the sprint. After several weeks of high intensity training, I am very happy with the biathlon I am putting together. The small shooting error confirms that I had some fatigue in my legs.”

“It was good to be back in a bib”

Jeanmonnot who skipped the previous summer competitions at Blink and Dresden told Nordic Magazine, “It was my first race bib in a while. I did not do any summer shows, so it was good to be back in a bib. My level is not quite there yet because we are all still training. There are still two months left for fine tuning…These races are more like training repetitions for me; the beginning of race pace after a lot of threshold training.”

The French star admitted post-Pursuit she was not fully pleased with her weekend. “It was not quite the perfect weekend. There are two or three things to review, especially after the pursuit, where I let a shot slip in both standing stages (after cleaning both prone stages).”

Anna Gandler, with two penalties continued her strong rollerski season, finishing second behind Jeanmonnot in the Sprint, 49.1 seconds back while Olympic Mass Start Gold medalist Oceane Michelon, also with two penalties finished third, 58.1 seconds back, 3.6 seconds ahead of Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, also with two penalties.

Norwegian Sprint titles to Botn and Kirkeeide

Up north in chilly Lygna, Norway Olympic Gold medalists Johan-Olav Smoerdal Botn and Maren Kirkeeide won their first Norwegian Sprint titles in 24:26.8 and 23:33.1, respectively. Botn had two standing penalties while Kirkeeide missed one standing shot. Karoline Erdal with one penalty finished second, 45.5 second behind Kirkeeide, while Estonian Regina Ermits finished third. Isaak Leknes Frey and Sturla Holm Laegreid both shot clean in second and third, 20 and 21.8 second back respectively behind Botn.

Botn and Kirkeeide Double Up like French Rivals

Like their French rivals, Botn and Kirkeeide both claimed own weekend doubles, taking the Mass Start Championships on Sunday. Botn’s win was his third consecutive, after winning the Estonian Sprint two weeks ago at Tehvandi Sports Center, site of the 2027 LaVita IBU World Championships. Yet his Mass Start win was no stroll in the park like Perrot had. Frey, with three penalties to Botn’s four, challenged in the last loop, finishing second, a mere 6.3 seconds back. Third went to Ole Surhke, with three penalties, 38.1 seconds back.