He doesn’t want to say it too loudly, but this year, more than any other, the Biathlon World Cup favorite suit feels tailor-made to him. After his masterful victory in the sprint in Ruhpolding (Germany), Thursday January 13 – the fourth of the season, the tenth of his career – Quentin Fillon Maillet made the break in the general classification on his pursuers. The Jura now has 72 points ahead of his teammate in the France team Emilien Jacquelin – who, for two races, is only a shadow of himself –, and 73 points over the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson.
“QFM” can even put a hand on the big crystal globe if, in the absence of the Norwegian leaders in the Bavarian Alps – Vetle Christiansen, Sturla Holm Laegreid and the brothers Tarjei and Johannes Boe preferred to skip the Ruhpolding stage to better prepare for the Beijing Winter Olympics (February 4 to 20) – he won the pursuit on Sunday at 2:45 p.m.
The “Morbaque”, his nickname in the France team, will not let go this season. Considered the putative successor of Martin Fourcade after the retirement of the five-time Olympic champion, at the end of winter 2020, Quentin Fillon Maillet took a little time to endorse, despite somewhat brash declarations last winter, the status leader of the Blues.
He was upset, it is true, by the outbreak of Emilien Jacquelin at the highest level. The Isérois had notably stolen the star from Franc-Comtois during the 2020 Worlds of Antholz-Anterselva, in the Italian Tyrol, by snatching gold in pursuit after a breathless finish with Johannes Boe.
“He does not calculate”
Third in the general classification for the last three seasons, the Franc-Comtois today relishes wearing the leader’s yellow jersey on his back. A bib that ” born [l’]didn’t prevent you from sleeping”, before the Ruhpolding sprint, he assures.
After a slow start to the season in Ostersund (Sweden), Quentin Fillon Maillet has had a string of podiums and victories – he has not left the top 10 for eight races – winning each of the last four stages of the Coupe du world.
A regularity that impresses even the coach of the French men’s team, Vincent Vittoz: “Quentin shows, race after race, that he accepts the fact of wearing the yellow jersey, entrusted the coach of the Blues to The Team. What I remember is above all the attitude. We feel that he does not ask too many questions, that he does not calculate, that he simply takes race by race, well in his business. »
The Jurassic man puts – the anecdote is well known – a very particular care to build his rifle. Good for him, he displays, in the exercise of shooting, statistics in clear progress (92% standing) this season which rank him among the best triggers on the circuit. And, on skis, QFM loses very little time (one second per kilometer on average) on the very best. So, inevitably, the work ends up paying off. He observes:
“The more years pass, the more experience I have, and victory scares me less and less. I find it easier and easier to manage the race and the pressure. This intimidates opponents. »
The one who has long been confined to the supporting role by Martin Fourcade and Johannes Boe, the two biathlon monsters, has, without complex, taken on a new dimension this winter. “ In the past, it was I who was intimidated by Martin Fourcade or Johannes Boe. Now it’s me who finds myself in this advantageous position, and that reinforces my idea that I can play the general. It is as much confidence stored for the Olympic Games. »
No triumphalism before the Olympics
Quentin Fillon Maillet is wary of any excessive triumphalism before the race for the podiums in Beijing (from February 4 to 20). The celebration of his victory at Ruhpolding, while restrained – barely a clenched fist – illustrates this: “Having an advantageous position after Antholz-Anterselva [la dernière étape de la Coupe du monde avant les JO], absolutely does not guarantee a medal in Beijing. »
The leader of the Blues had confided, at the beginning of October, that an individual medal and another in the relay on the Zhangjiakou track would satisfy his happiness. Today, in view of the performance of Franc-Comtois, this objective seems to be the bare minimum. Admittedly, they do not yet make QFM the big favorite for the Beijing Games, but certainly a serious contender for the Olympic titles in the cold and windy Zhangjiakou. Conditions quite close to his native Jura.