Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet and Antonin Guigonnat finished fourth in the single mixed relay at Nove Mesto. But that does not prevent France from winning the small crystal globe of the mixed relay.
After the magnificent victory of the French team in the mixed relay, it was the single mixed relay that closed the World Cup stage in Nove Mesto, in the Czech Republic. And the Blues, led by the duo Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet and Antonin Guigonnat, in good shape this week, did not manage to do as well as the quartet of the morning, finishing at the foot of the podium. Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet started the race well, with just one fault on her first shot, but the second turned out to be much more complicated, with a penalty lap for the Frenchwoman, who fell back in the standings to hand over to Antonin Guigonnat in 17th position, 39 seconds behind Norway’s Marte Olsbu Roeiseland (victorious in the sprint and pursuit) and Vetle Christiansen.
The Haut-Savoyard therefore aimed to move up the rankings, and he succeeded, by shooting 9 out of 10, which allowed France to climb to seventh place at the time of the handover.26 seconds behind Sweden’s Mona Brorsson and Jesper Nelin (Norway then fell to fifth place, after Christiansen’s four faults).
Ups and downs for Guigonnat
For her second stint, Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet only made one error in prone shooting and one error in standing shooting, so that she was able to pass the baton to Antonin Guigonnat in fourth position, 23 seconds from Sweden. , 17 from Norway, which made a good comeback thanks to Roeiseland, and 16 from Austria of Simon Eder and Lisa Theresa Hauser. However, podium hopes were quickly dashed on the seventh shot. The Frenchman actually missed three targets, and even though he avoided the penalty lap, he fell back in the standings, emerging eighth from the firing line, now 38 seconds from the podium.
Norway took advantage of Nelin’s two fouls to take control, and Christiansen concluded with a clear round on the last shot to claim the overall victory. Guigonnat, who only committed one fault on his standing shot, moved up to fourth place after the “crisp” of Eder and Nelin, who went to the penalty ring. But the French failed to close the gap with the Latvian Andrejs Rastorgujevs, who offers an unexpected podium to his country (with Baiba Bendika), behind the Swiss of Niklas Hartweg and Emma Lunder. Despite the disappointment of this fourth place, France offers itself the small crystal globe of the mixed relay, ahead of Norway. The week was therefore good for the French delegation, with crystal, three podiums and a confirmed yellow bib for Julia Simon. To be confirmed next week in Östersund in Sweden!
WORLD CUP / SINGLE MIXED RELAY OF NOVE MESTO (CZECH REPUBLIC)
Final classification (4×1.5km + 5×1.5km) – Sunday March 5, 2023
1- Norway in 36’40″5 (0 penalty lap + 7 pickaxes)
2- Switzerland at 17″6 (0+10)
3- Latvia at 29″5 (0+9)
4- France at 45″1 (1+11)
5- Austria at 51″4 (1+10)
6- Ukraine at 52″6 (1+8)
7- Germany at 53″1 (1+10)
8- Canada at 59″6 (2+7)
9- Sweden at 1’15″2 (2+7)
10- Romania at 1’35″5 (0+9)
…
