Extremely strenuous, but very welcome change in the everyday training of the French biathlon team. Emilien Jacquelin, Fabien Claude, Antonin Guigonnat and numerous other well-known winter sports faces changed terrain at the weekend and completed the 14th stage of this year’s Tour de France. Their times were quite impressive.
The 14th stage of the Tour de France 2023 demands a lot of respect from even the pure cycling pros. On the approximately 150 kilometers from Annemassee to Morzine, the tour stars will face three mountains of the first category and one mountain of the so-called Hors Catégorie next Saturday – not for the faint of heart and certainly not for weak legs.
Cyclists can now ask the French biathlon team how the course is going and where the special challenges lie. Some of the stars took part in an amateur race (“L’Étape du Tour de France”) on this very route at the weekend. The volunteers also included three members of the national A team, Emilien Jacquelin, Fabien Claude and Antonin Guigonnat.
Biathlon stars miss the top 100
As expected, the biathletes had nothing to do with the victory in the men’s category, their times were worth every honor. Claude crossed the line in 5:24.48 in 114th place, making him the best of the trio. Jacquelin (157th) needed eight minutes longer for the 150 kilometers, Guigonnat finished 167th with a time of 5:34.01 minutes.
A personality from winter sports was significantly more successful in the women’s class. Here the former speed skating icon Martina Sablikova confidently prevailed against the competition. With a time of 5:19.39 hours, the Czech, who has already won several national cycling titles, distanced the second-placed Oceane Mahe by more than twelve minutes.