French biathlete bets on cycling – wants to combine the sports before the 2030 Olympics

The 31-year-old Frenchman tells the cycling site Velora that he is realizing his childhood dream.

It is not brand new. Émilien Jacquelin competed in both biathlon and cycling until the age of 16–17. And he usually practices cycling as a build-up training for the biathlon seasons.

But the fact that he would join a professional stable already impresses his Swedish biathlon colleagues.

- I think it's cool to see how well he's already performing. He goes to very big competitions. After all, he has hardly ever really done anything with cycling and it is an incredibly tough sport, says Martin Ponsiluoma in a digital press conference.

- It's a sport I usually watch in the afternoons between sessions, so really impressive.

Jacquelin runs for Decathlon-CMA CGM. He is not a star there, as in biathlon.

- For many years I had the pressure on me to win, to try to get medals or podium places. But now I compete in a team and work for others and try to make sure we win as a team. It's really special and I like it, he tells Velora.

Jacquelin has been tight-lipped about whether the cycling venture is only temporary and, if so, how long he intends to last.

- I certainly hope that he will return to biathlon this winter, says Sebastian Samuelsson.

However, the Frenchman's stable sees the cycling investment a little further than the start of the Biathlon World Cup at the end of November.

- Right now we are trying to develop him to see how far he can go. We don't know what will happen next year, says sporting director Luke Rowe to Velora.

Jacquelin says he wants to return to biathlon eventually because the next Winter Olympics will be held in his home country in 2030. But he doesn't know if he should combine the two sports.

- Right now I like to sit on the bike, I want to continue to develop. At the same time, I am thinking about the 2030 Olympics in France. But I still don't know when I'll get back to biathlon.

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