Übersetzung ins Englische:
Émilien Jacquelin, who has been a trainee with the Decathlon CMA-CGM cycling team since April and competed in his first professional races in August, is expected to continue with the team in 2027. He would then put the entire biathlon season behind him.
This isn’t the turning of a page, but likely the beginning of a chapter that will stretch on. Émilien Jacquelin is expected to sit out the 2026–2027 biathlon season and devote an entire season to cycling. The Olympic gold medalist in the men’s relay and bronze medalist in the pursuit at the most recent Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, held last February in Anterselva, is expected, according to our sources, to extend the cycling adventure he began in April on two wheels.
A trainee with Decathlon CMA-CGM since April and a member of the NewGen team, he went on to compete in his first professional races in August at the Polynormande (88th), the Tour de Limousin (52nd), and the Mediterranean Games as the sole representative of the French national team (14th), is now seeking a contract for the year 2027. He recently hired an agent who works with many French riders, and several teams have informally reached out for information following the 31-year-old from Villard’s initial performances.
While it’s not entirely out of the question that Decathlon CMA-CGM might offer him a way to continue the adventure in one form or another—even if a spot on the World Tour seems highly unlikely—teams at the ProTeams or Conti level (TotalEnergies? Unibet Rose Rockets? Van Rysel Roubaix?) might also be interested in the French biathlete’s intriguing “career change” at this point. These teams also know that the marketing and media spotlight is no small matter.
He gets a huge kick out of cycling
Although he hasn’t officially announced anything to the French Ski Federation, Jacquelin has hinted in recent weeks that he might go all in on this and that his return to skiing and the shooting range would have to wait. That would mean putting his biathlon career on hold for at least a year, though this wouldn’t prevent him from returning later, in 2028, to then prepare for the 2030 Olympic Games in the French Alps. But as he’s discovering a whole new world and has become passionate about cycling, Jacquelin has been having a blast these past few months. He doesn’t want it to end.
On the evening the Olympic Games came to a close, bundled up in his coat at his hotel, Jacquelin told L'Équipe, as if making a promise or expressing a hope: “Taking a break and coming back—I’ve honestly thought about it. You know how much I love cycling. I’m not necessarily talking about competing at the very highest level, but I’ve already renewed my license for April and May. I really want to race, attack every other lap, and no one will hold it against me (laughs). You’ll come see me at the regional races! I’ll be over the moon!” The biathlete-turned-cyclist has already moved beyond the regional race circuit...
