He is a biathlon superstar. Now he is sacrificing everything for his teammates on the bike while also casting doubt on his return to biathlon.

On Sunday, French biathlon star Emilien Jacquelin made his professional cycling debut for the Decathlon CMA CGM team. The 31-year-old finished in 88th place at the La Polynormande race, after 120km in the breakaway and sacrificing everything for his teammates.

The team’s captain, Paul Lapeira, is full of admiration for the debutant.

“He comes here from an individual sport (where he is a superstar). He acts like nobody, just does what he’s asked to do. And he sacrifices himself to such a degree, more than anyone expects or demands of him,” Lapeira told the race organizer.

Jacquelin himself is beaming after the debut, even though he had to let the group go with 48km left to the finish.

“I’m happy to experience professional life this way. I did the job they expected of me, both before the start, during and after the race, by helping to control the gap to the breakaway. So I’m very pleased,” he told DirectVelo.

“I wish I could have given a bit more before I had to give up, but it was very intense and I nearly ran out of gas right before the descent. That’s why I let myself drop back so I wouldn’t risk taking Paul Lapeira down with me, since he was right behind me,” Jacquelin says, adding.

“I had a great time. The spectators here in Normandy were fantastic. It felt like I was in Grand-Bornand.”

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Full of admiration

Paul Lapeira is quick to comment on Jacquelin’s attitude. Despite star status in his own sport, the Frenchman has set everything aside to try his hand in a new sport, where he must start from scratch and sacrifice his own ambitions for his teammates.

“When you have the status and position he has in his sport, and then set all of that aside to chase a boyhood dream, and honestly, I’m full of admiration… He arrives here with a child’s wide eyes, soaking up tips and advice even though he must be five or six years older than me… It’s amazing to get to experience something like that, and for his sake I hope he can keep going on the bike a little longer,” he says.

Raising doubt about a return to biathlon

Jacquelin shocked the entire ski community when he broke with the French biathlon national team after the World Cup finals in March.

After the best season of his career as a biathlete, with gold and bronze at the Olympics and a string of podium finishes in the World Cup, he signed a professional contract with the cycling team Decathlon CMA CGM. There he was given a spot on the development squad and said he would give himself six months.

Now Jacquelin is raising doubts about a return to biathlon this winter.

The national team management has in fact given Jacquelin a clear ultimatum: if the biathlon star wants to be part of the team this coming winter, he must begin the regular season buildup at the end of August.

But Jacquelin does not want to discuss the matter.

“I’m not the type to think about September right now, and especially not beyond that. We’ll see what the future brings, but nothing has been decided,” he says.

“Right now, my first goal is to recover. I want to come back, and I’m already looking forward to the Tour and Limousine in two days and continuing the work for the team.”

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