After switching gears and winning in the Sprint and Pursuit in Hochfilzen, JT Boe will like his chances in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, the sixth time France will host the BMW IBU World Cup. So will Elvira Oeberg, who scored her career-first World Cup win in France. But both French teams are hot, with Emilien Jacquelin currently the fastest man on the skis.

Johannes usually rules in France

With his 19th Sprint-Pursuit double coming in Kontiolahti, Boe has now equaled the all-time record set by Ole Einar Bjoerndalen. Martin Fourcade ranks third in this category with 12 such combination wins.

Boe’s stats in Annecy are also mind-blowing. He won four of five Sprints, three of five Pursuits, and one Mass start in his 14 competitions in France. Apart from one outlier - he finished 20th in the Mass start in the Olympic 2021/2022 season - he never finished lower than fifth.

Consistently the fastest skier among men, Johannes’s shooting accuracy hovers around 86% each season. But there is something about the shooting range in Le Grand Bornand that fits his style, for he missed just two shots in five Sprints, which translates into 96% accuracy. He shot with 93% accuracy in five Pursuits and 86.5% in the four Mass starts.

What about his challengers?

But Johannes might not have it all his own way in France. After their first-ever Relay win in Hochfilzen in 30 attempts, and with Jacquelin in the shape of his life, Boe’s French challengers are very much looking towards Le Grand Bornand as a chance to reclaim yellow. This is where Jacquelin achieved his first-ever World Cup win in the Mass start in 2021/2022 in his vintage extravagant style: risking everything. A day before, Quentin Fillon Maillet won in the Pursuit in what turned out to be the key stepping stone towards his Total Score triumph in 2021/2022. On top of these two triumphs Jacquelin and Fillon Maillet have four further podiums in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand.Eric Perrot has an almost blank slate at Annecy - but certainly not for long.

Elsewhere Sturla Holm Laegreid won in the Pursuit two years ago and has two additional podium finishes in France. As for Sebastian Samuelsson, Annecy-Le Grand Bornand will be a test of unique sorts for the Swede, who finished sixth in the Pursuit in 2022/2023, a result that remains his career-best in Annecy. His form has traditionally slumped after the first two weeks of the season, and he needs to change the pattern this winter should he wish to extend his quest to win the Total Score into 2025.

With Preuss in yellow and Elvira in love with Annecy, French women face a big challenge

It took the Total Score leader Franziska Preuss 2,154 days - after her Mass Start triumph in Ruhpolding in 2019 - to achieve her second World Cup win in the Sprint of Hochfilzen. The gap between Preuss’s wins is the third longest in World Cup history. Only Nathalie Santer (2,226 days) and Magdalena Gwizdon (2,290 days) endured longer waits for their subsequent victory. Preuss, the only woman with three podiums this winter, has some fond memories of Annecy-Le Grand Bornand from the early days of her career, as she debuted on the flower podium, finishing sixth in the Sprint in the 2013/2014 season.

Lou Jeanmonnot is the only woman with two wins this season - and will be searching for her career-first triumph at home. The same goes for Julia Simon, who finished on the podium four times but has never won in France. Justine Braisaz-Bouchet won in the Mass start in 2017/2018. She is skiing as fast as anyone this winter, but her shooting accuracy is 77%, too low to finish on the podium.

Elvira Oeberg will strive for glory in France: with three wins, Le Grand Bornand is her most successful venue. She will want to erase the Hochfilzen week and get back on top of the leaderboard. Elvira’s older sister Hanna has announced she will miss Annecy to focus on her preparation for the second trimester, as has Norway’s Juni Arnekleiv. Also missing from France will be Marketa Davidova. The Czechia star has had a brilliant opening to the season - highlighted by her Sprint win in Kontiolahti - and with a string of top-10 finishes she sits fourth in the Total Score. However, like last year’s champion Lisa Vittozzi a back injury has forced Davidova away from racing temporarily.