Formidable on the shooting range, the Frenchwoman signed her fourth podium of the season on Saturday.
We take the same and start again. Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet, third Friday in the sprint, fought to the end with the Norwegians Ingrid Tandrevold and Marte Roeiseland, Saturday March 4. After a last standing shot led with a beating drumbeat (20/20 shooting), the Frenchwoman settled for bronze again on the World Cup stage in Nove Mesto (Czech Republic). Julia Simon (18/20), in difficulty on skis after contracting covid-19 returning from the Worlds, must be satisfied for her part with fourth place. However, she is widening her lead at the top of the general classification ahead of Elvira Oeberg (73rd yesterday and not aligned with the pursuit), while five events remain to be contested in the race for the crystal globe.
A formidable regularity in shooting
Starting 29 seconds behind the Norwegian Marte Roeiseland, Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet signed a perfect score on the shooting range. Benefiting from a foul from Ingrid Tandrevold on the first shot, then from an inaccuracy from Marte Roeiseland on her second pass, the Frenchwoman took the lead of the race for a time, before being taken back on skis by the Norwegians . Making a splash at the last shot, the leading trio finally played the order of the podium places on skis.
In this regard, advantage to the Norwegians. Quickly distanced by a few meters, Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet witnessed the fight between Marte Roeiseland and Ingrid Tandrevold as a spectator. As during the Oberhof mass start, the Frenchwoman shone with her consistency on the shooting range, being the only skier not to have received a penalty (a perfect shot that she had not achieved since 2018) but fished on the snow.
“On the skis, I was a little worse, so I had to do the job on the shot. But I’m happy with my race, I came across stronger. Now, I’m no longer afraid to lead a race, to shoot on the front page. But I didn’t have the legs too much, and the fact of not having any marks in front of me on the skis, it was hard”, declared after her race the Frenchwoman at the microphone of the team.
Julia Simon, who started more than forty seconds behind Marte Roeiseland, paid for her physical poor shape and was left behind on the last lap. She finished fourth (+53”) but consolidated her lead in the general classification (893 points) over Elvira Oeberg. On the side of the other French women involved, Lou Jeanmonnot (17/20) finished 16th, just ahead of Sophie Chauveau, 17th. Chloé Chevalier is 21st and Caroline Colombo (4 faults on the first shot), 22nd.