Victor Lovera isn’t the only Frenchman to have chosen Lillehammer as his training ground for his summer preparation. Sabin Coupat has also chosen to train in Scandinavia to prepare for the coming winter.

Sabin Coupat is one of the French skiers with the greatest potential to make it onto the World Cup circuit, which he has already competed on several times. Finishing third in the overall FESA Cup standings during the 2025/2026 season, the 26-year-old French skier has reached three podium finishes on that circuit, along with many other top finishes.

After competing in six World Cup events over the past two seasons, Sabin Coupat is determined to return to the circuit.

One of the strategies the cross-country skier has adopted to achieve his goal is therefore to train in the top nation in men’s cross-country skiing.

Also Read: Lovera to train in Lillehammer this summer

The third-place finisher in the most recent Engadin Marathon tells us about his journey and what motivated him to go train in Norway:

“In recent years, I’ve been able to train with the French B team, with Matthias Wibault as my coach. Then, when I was no longer on the French national team, my father, Olivier Coupat, became my coach, and I joined Team Nordic Expérience so I could be part of a group.”

But this year, the young French cross-country skier decided to do his summer training in Scandinavia:

“I chose Norway because I wanted to find a training group that was truly focused on all-round skiing and had a high training intensity. I also wanted to train with athletes who were better than me, to push myself to be better,” he explains to ProXCskiing.com.

To have a coach on site, Sabin Coupat chose one of the best coaches around today:

“I contacted Vetle Leander Johansen so I could have a coach on site. So, I’m training with Team Swenor-Splitkon.”

Read More: Requires 40 hours a week – the training that awaits Halfvarsson

Thanks to this training with the Swenor-Splitkon team, the Frenchman hopes to return to the World Cup as early as next season:

“It’s about making it back to the World Cup and ‘shining’ there. The goal is to rejoin the French national A team. Going to the World Championships in Falun would be incredible, but the priority remains to make it back to the World Cup and ‘shine’ there, just as my potential has suggested for so many years,” he said.

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