Bessans is done. Next for the French women is Corrençon-en-Vercors, 8–18 September, still no snow. It is the fourth camp of the summer: Prémanon in June, Ceillac in July, Bessans in August. Then La Féclaz, the Summer Tour. Snow only arrives in Ramsau, 6–16 October. The World Cup opens on 24 November in Kontiolahti. Less than three months. For Cyril Burdet and Patrick Favre this is no longer “build volume”. It is the last block where shooting can still be fixed without negative temperatures.
Who goes — and who does not
Group A still has Lou Jeanmonnot, Julia Simon, Océane Michelon, Camille Bened, Jeanne Richard. Justine Braisaz-Bouchet has trained apart from the squad this summer. Sophie Chauveau is at home after a concussion. Anaëlle Bondoux is coming back. Michelon missed the start of the August Bessans camp. Simon won the 19 August Contest — the shooting block, then the super final. That is not a winter result. It is a mark: her position still holds after three camps. Jeanmonnot and Bened finished behind her. For Corrençon that is enough as a briefing and not enough as a guarantee.
The men closed their Savoie block earlier. Fillon Maillet did not start the Contest, Perrot went out in the quarters, Jacob took the men’s grid. By November those names mix again in a Kontiolahti protocol. For now the women’s team leaves for the Vercors without them.
A calendar that is no longer summer
After Corrençon: Ramsau and a fork — the Arçon Summer Tour or Loop One in Munich. Then Bessans on 3–15 November and the FFS trials. The IBU opens the winter with the men’s 20km individual in Kontiolahti, the women the next day, then mixed relays and sprints. Hochfilzen, Le Grand-Bornand, Pokljuka. The World Championships are in Otepää in February, outside the World Cup standings. The French women still have one snowless camp, one glacier and one trial before that first individual. Corrençon on 8 September is not a social-media picture. It is the last Alpine road where you can still build strength without thinking about a penalty loop. After that comes snow. And a score.
