By Johan Trygg As a new Pro Team for Season XI, Team Décathlon Expérience finished in ninth place in the Pro Team competition. A good result, but Pro Team Director Maxime Grenard say like this: “It’s mixed feelings… We aimed to be better! Now we put all our energy into preparing the best we can…

By Johan Trygg

As a new Pro Team for Season XI, Team Décathlon Expérience finished in ninth place in the Pro Team competition. A good result, but Pro Team Director Maxime Grenard say like this:
“It’s mixed feelings… We aimed to be better! Now we put all our energy into preparing the best we can in front of Season XII.”

There is no doubt about it. The French Pro Team, Team Décathlon Expérience, wants to challenge the Swedish, Norwegian and Russian teams at the top of the Pro Team competition. The ninth place in their first season was good, not least considering some problems during the season for several of the Pro Team’s athletes.

We had a chat with Pro Team Director Maxime Grenard to hear about Season XI and the upcoming Season XII.

How would you sum up the first season of Team Décathlon Expérience?
“Good and enriching! It was tough: we had to create a new team, there were many changes in the organizational part during the summer, and on top of that, the health crisis… But finally, we did well!”
“We missed some rhythm at the beginning of the season with a lack of competitions in France since March 2020. Also, three athletes were injured at La Diagonela because of the extreme cold. But the more we competed, the more we could be competitive and significant progress was made. Therefore, we learned a lot for the upcoming seasons.”

How challenging was this season given Covid-19?
“Adaptation! Adaptation was the keyword of this season. Plan B, plan C-D-E… Everything could change in a week. Everyone was organized and empowered to give the team as many chances as possible to race and hold training camps. The challenge was also to avoid the Covid-19. Only four of our athletes got it during the training season without a lot of consequences.”

How satisfied are you with ninth place in the Pro Team competition?
“It’s mixed feelings… We aimed to be better! But we have to say that after La Diagonela and the severe frostbites, we missed Kati Roivas for all the season, Thomas Joly for three races, and Alexis Jeannerod for two races, so we did well, despite the situation… But it did cost us a lot of points for the team ranking.”

Are there any athletes on the team who surprised you this winter?
“Not really. All athletes improved their level during the season. I know what they are capable of performing. Hard work paid off. Special recognition to Roxane, who had an amazing end of the season. She was close to the podium and fought with the best skiers in the Pro Tour. And also Alexis and Bastien for their tenacity!”

What does the future hold? Will you bring any new athletes into the team?
“We put all our energy into preparing the best we can in front of Season XII. The covid pandemic has challenged us to find the necessary funds to work and train under appropriate conditions and, more importantly, to participate in all Visma Ski Classics races. Besides, we are still looking for new partners who would like to help us to finance our season.”
“Currently, we are working on the size of the team. Some athletes decided to end their careers, like Anouk Wibault and Alexandre Pouyé. A few others are still hesitating to do another season. We will soon communicate the composition of our new team. We can already announce a new member: Jennifer Lambert, a young skier from our training center based in La Féclaz.”
“The center was created at the same time as Team Décathlon Expérience. The goal is to introduce young athletes for long distance skiing and the Pro Tour. It’s the reservoir of our team, like some cyclist team’s work. It’s a real strength for us and for the French skiing in general. Jennifer’s goal is to discover Visma Ski Classics Pro Tour, and she could fight for the pink Youth bib!”

Jennifer Lambert is an exciting new addition to Team Décathlon Expérience.

What is the plan for training camps for season XII?
“The training plan will look a lot like the one last season. We will have one or two training camps per month between June and the beginning of the winter season in France, Switzerland, and Italy. We hope we could do some competitions during the preparation.”

What is the goal for season XII?
“The goal will be to fight every weekend with the Scandinavian teams, as we were able to do on some races at the end of Season XI. The youngest athletes should continue to increase their level and even reach the top 20.”

When will we see the team’s first athlete on a podium place? Roxane seems to be on the right track! What do you think of Alexis’ chances?
“We are on the right track, we work hard, and I’m sure we can succeed soon. Roxane, Alexis, or someone else… Work and motivation will pay off.”