Jean-Marc Gaillard, the French cross-country skier with 300 FIS World Cup starts and two Winter Olympic Games medals, will be at the start of Visma Ski Classics Pro Tour and Challengers events this winter.

The French cross-country skiing team veteran, who had announced last spring that he was starting his last season as a professional skier, with the main goals on the traditional cross-country skiing circuit and aiming for a 5th Olympic selection, will not be able to participate in the Beijing Olympics.

In fact, his results at the beginning of the season were not good enough to qualify for an Olympic selection. Gaillard was counting both World Cup in Les Rousses and Planica to try to qualify, but these two cancellations, which were his last chances to qualify, marked the end of the Olympic dream for him.

However, he told the French newspaper L’Equipe that he had always said that he “wanted to finish his career with two years on the long-distance circuit.”

And indeed, tomorrow we will see Gaillard at the start of Visma Ski Classics Challengers Les Belles Combes, in the French Jura Mountains. A long-distance race he will probably enjoy because he already won it in 2018.

Ylläs-Levi in 2019 was a Pro Tour debut for Gaillard, but next weekend, it’s time for the mythical Marcialonga, one of the four Grand Classics events. The first participation for him. But keep an eye on the Frenchman, who, with his experience, will be able to compete with the best.

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