The juniors celebrated the start of their season at the IBU Junior Cup in Goms under fantastic conditions. The first race weekend featured two sprint races and a mass start 60. It was a particularly successful weekend for the French team.

Matija Legovic and Lou-Anne Dupont Ballet-Baz are the first winners of the season

Matija Legovic, winner of the overall Junior Cup standings for the 2024/2025 season, showed right from the start of the junior season that he will be a force to be reckoned with again this year. With flawless shooting and the second-fastest ski time, the Croatian won with ease. The French team locked out the rest of the top five with Leo Carlier, Antonin Delsol, Guillaume Poirot, and Camille Grataloup-Manissolle finishing behind Legovic. A total of six French athletes finished in the top 10. Delsol was also the fastest on the track.

French flags also flew on the podium in the women's competition. Lou-Anne Dupont Ballet-Baz secured victory with a 28-second lead over her teammate Maela Correia. She shared second place with Tetiana Tarasiuk from Ukraine. Both missed one target each at the shooting range. For Michaela Strakova (Slovakia, 4th place) and Selina Ganner (Austria, 5th place), it was the best Junior Cup result of their careers to date. The Swiss team also saw good results as Lena Baumann came in 9th and Molly Kafka in 11th.

French dominance in the women's competition and a surprise victory in the men's

Thomas Marchl from Austria celebrated the best result of his career so far in the second sprint in Goms. Without a penalty lap, he was seven seconds faster at the finish than Judicael Perrillat from France, who also remained clean. David Elias from Czechia completed the podium in third place.

In the women's event, the French team achieved a strong team result. Louise Roguet crossed the finish line with a razor-thin lead of 0.9 seconds ahead of her teammate Dupont Ballet-Baz. Both missed two targets. Correia missed only one target and finished in third place. Kafka represented the Swiss home team in sixth place at the flower ceremony and celebrated her best career result.

French Day to conclude the week

Grataloup-Manissolle had an almost perfect day in the mass start 60. With only one missed target in the standing shooting, the Frenchman outran his competitors and celebrated as the first to cross the finish line. His teammate Enzo Bouillet was five seconds behind him. Elias rounded off his successful week in Goms with another podium finish. Leo Carlier (France, 4th place), Marchl (Austria, 5th place), and Poirot (France, 6th place) followed in the remaining places.

In the women's race, Dupont Ballet-Baz secured her second victory of the week. Starting with bib number 1, she dominated the race from the front. On the final lap, Ganner from Austria and Kseniia Prykhodko from Ukraine battled it out to the finish line, with the Austrian coming out on top. Fourth to sixth places went to France with Correia, Themice Fontaine, and Roguet.

In Martell, individual, sprint, and relay are on the schedule for next week (December 18 to 21) in IBU Junior Cup.

Photos: IBU I Authamayou