Kontiolahti: Quentin Fillon Maillet wins a 6th consecutive pursuit and further widens the gap in the general standings

Imperturbable, Quentin Fillon Maillet takes a double hit. In total management on the track and facing the targets, the Jura player (19/20) pushed where it hurt to win the pursuit (12.5km) on Sunday in Kontiolahti, Finland. Starting with bib 1, the leader of the World Cup foiled all his pursuers, Emilien Jacquelin in the lead (4th, 18/20). Rewarded for his crazy comeback, Erik Lesser offered himself a fine second place (20/20, + 8”), a few weeks from putting away his rifle. The German sprinted ahead of another veteran, Lukas Hofer (19/20). Since happiness never comes alone, Fillon Maillet pocketed his first crystal globe at the same time, that of pursuit. The dream conclusion to a perfect week.

Valorous Jacquelin then sounded

Above all, do not talk about post-Olympic decompression to Quentin Fillon Maillet. The yellow bib rarely even gave the impression of being so concerned about his subject. With 29 cleared targets out of 30 this weekend, the Jura player has maintained a breathtaking level of mastery on the mats, to the point of throwing the competition into doubt. Despite supersonic speed on the boards, Emilien Jacquelin broke his teeth, like many, on the solid gold shell of the World Cup leader.

Returning to his skis at the cost of committed prone shots, Jacquelin then suffered the law of QFM. A small acceleration when relaunching the attic climb of the route and a first standing shot unrolled in complete serenity put a big blow on the head of the Haut-Savoyard, sounded during the penultimate lap. Despite a small hitch on the 20th ball, the small door opened by Fillon Maillet was not enough for Jacquelin, also at fault on the last standing (4/5). Too tight on the last loop, the Haut-Savoyard was content to let the leaping veterans Lesser and Hofer slip away towards the podium.

A first globe to whet your appetite

Almost elusive from the start to the end of the event, Quentin Fillon Maillet confirmed his regularity on the pursuits, he who is six wins in a row (including Games). The 15th victory of his career hatched another gift for the Jura player, who only needed 17 small points over Sebastian Samuelsson to finally taste the crystal. Mission accomplished after the rout of the blue bib (24th, 15/20), forced to give up the globe of the specialty to the Habs.

Still in the running to win those of the sprint and the mass start, huge favorite for that of the general, Quentin Fillon Maillet affixes his seal even more on a 2021/2022 exercise which he will have dominated from start to finish, and with style. In the general classification, precisely, the gap seems unrecoverable for Jacquelin, pushed back to 174 points, and with only five races left to go. Either enough to do for the Jura who is hungry for victories and globes. His rivals are warned, Fillon Maillet file launched towards the end of historic opus.