France has named ten biathletes for the Loop One Festival at Munich's Olympiapark. Lou Jeanmonnot, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Quentin Fillon-Maillet will not travel to Munich and will race in Arçon on the same weekend.
Who is going to Munich
France's women's selection:
- Julia Simon
- Océane Michelon
- Voldiya Galmace-Paulin
- Amandine Mengin
- Paula Botet
France's men's selection:
- Eric Perrot
- Fabien Claude
- Emilien Claude
- Gaëtan Paturel
- Damien Levet
Perrot travels as defending champion after winning the inaugural edition. According to Sport1, team director Stéphane Bouthiaux has opted for a mix of established world-class athletes and up-and-coming talent. Fondoitalia describes the squad as some of the group's most experienced athletes plus several young athletes who will face the urban format in Munich for the first time.
Dates and format
Sport1 and Fondoitalia both give the dates of the Loop One Festival as 17 and 18 October. The French site ski-nordique.net lists only 18 October for the Munich event. As Sport1 reports, the format has been expanded, with super sprint qualifiers and finals on both competition days. A total of 60 top biathletes are expected to take part.
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According to ski-nordique.net, the French staff first planned to keep their best athletes in France for the races in Arçon. Fondoitalia reports that Bouthiaux had said months earlier that, because the two events overlap, France would not necessarily send its best athletes to Munich. The International Biathlon Union then pushed for at least some of France's stars to compete in Munich. Bouthiaux addressed the matter shortly after attending the IBU Congress in Berchtesgaden. He said the IBU had put pressure on France to field a proper squad for the Loop One Festival. As a result, the federation adjusted its plans slightly to split the athletes between Munich and Arçon.
According to Sport1, Fabien Claude also had to change his plans at short notice.
Jeanmonnot and Fillon-Maillet in Arçon
None of the ten athletes picked for Munich will race in Arçon. Lou Jeanmonnot, Camille Bened, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Oscar Lombardot and Quentin Fillon-Maillet will compete there instead. Sport1 and Fondoitalia call the event the "Summer Tour", while ski-nordique.net calls it the "National Tour d'Arçon". According to ski-nordique.net, the rest of France's A group will meet the vast majority of the World Cup's stars in Munich.
