Thibaut Pinot to start 2018 with cross country ski race
A less conventional start to the cycling season for the Frenchman who will ride the Giro and Tour in 2018
While many professional riders have already gotten their 2018 seasons underway at the Tour Down Under, the Tour of San Juan, Étoile de Bessèges or the Colombia Oro y Paz, Frenchman Thibaut Pinot is not one of them. Despite having the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France on his plate in 2018, he is instead easing into the race season. Having already completed two team training camps, Pinot’s chosen path begins with an endurance cross country ski race. On Saturday, Pinot will pine numbers for the first time in 2018 lining-up at the 56 km Transjurassienne.
“I will pin my first numbers of the season on Sunday 11 February for the most famous cross country ski race, La Transjurasienne,” Pinot wrote in a Tweet. “Very excited to start my first cross country ski race after years of training.”
1/2?? Reprise anticipée … J’accrocherais mon premier dossard de la saison dimanche 11 février à l’occasion de la plus célèbre course de ski de fond, La transjurasienne.
— PINOT Thibaut (@ThibautPinot) February 5, 2018
2/2 Je représenterai l'association @lasapaudia, qui sensibilise au don de moelle osseuse.
Très excité de prendre part à ma 1ère course de ski de fond après tant d’année d’entraînement ? @EquipeFDJ @rossignol_1907 pic.twitter.com/kCp3obijRT— PINOT Thibaut (@ThibautPinot) February 5, 2018
The French race will see 4,000 participants line-up at Les Rousses in the Jura mountains. The men’s record for the race stands at nearly two hours, 30 minutes. Station Les Rousses hosted a stage finish of the 2017 Tour de France in which Pinot finish 76th as compatriot Lilian Calmejane took the win. The race finishes in Mouthe.
Pinot’s winter training has included a fair bit of cross country skiing near his home in the Vosques mountain. He is not the only professional to mix in some skiing in the winter months. Romain Bardet skies to stay in shape during the winter and even participated in an exhibition race as part of a stop of the Biathlon World Cup. With an abundance of wintery conditions, a number of Canadians also don’t shy away from some ski time as a break away from the bike.
While many choose to avoid the Canadian winter months for most of the off-season, Michael Woods did some skiing in Gatineau park over the holidays. Rally Cycling also did a training camp which included some time skiing while Olympic mountain biker Raphaël Gagné chooses to spend lots of time skiing during the winter.
