After Decathlon trial, Olympic biathlon champion skips upcoming season and officially prioritises cycling to pursue professional future
CyclingWednesday, 23 September 2026 at 21:30
Emilien Jacquelin will skip the entire 2026/27 biathlon season after officially deciding to continue his pursuit of a professional cycling career.
The 31-year-old confirmed the decision on Tuesday following a summer spent racing with Decathlon CMA CGM, ending the uncertainty over whether he would return to the French biathlon setup for the coming winter.
“I’ve made the decision to continue cycling over the coming months and, as a result, not to do next winter with the biathlon team,” Jacquelin said in a video released by the French Ski Federation.
Jacquelin won pursuit bronze and men's relay gold at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics earlier this year before turning his attention towards cycling.
Decathlon trial opens door to professional future
After joining Decathlon’s NewGen project, Jacquelin made his professional debut at La Polynormande in August and finished 88th after spending much of the race working at the front of the peloton. Paul Lapeira later revealed that Jacquelin had done more work than the team had asked of him and at one point had even been told to stop riding.
The Frenchman then finished 52nd overall at the Tour du Limousin before taking 14th as France’s sole representative in the Mediterranean Games road race. His programme continued into September with the Tour of Britain, GP de Fourmies and GP de Wallonie.
Jacquelin has since enlisted cycling agent Joona Laukka as he searches for a professional contract for 2027. “I really want to push things as far as possible in cycling, to see how far I can go and how long I can continue in this world,” he explained.
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2030 Olympic target remains
Jacquelin insists the decision does not bring his biathlon career to an end. “The story with biathlon isn’t over. The objective remains the 2030 Olympic Games in the French Alps,” said the two-time pursuit world champion. “Today, the path I’m taking is different, special, but I feel that it is in line with what I want to do.”
Jacquelin finished fifth in the overall World Cup standings last season before adding another individual Olympic medal and relay gold to a career which already includes five world titles.
He will remain in contact with the French biathlon team during his season away. “I’m still following what my teammates are doing in training camps or international competition,” he said.
Jacquelin also plans to attend the World Cup round at Le Grand-Bornand from December 10-13, although this time as a spectator supporting his former teammates rather than competing.
His competitive focus now turns entirely towards cycling and the search for a 2027 contract, with his first full winter away from biathlon giving him the chance to prepare exclusively for a second season in the peloton.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- It's a horribly composed article. It doesn't mention his name until the third paragraph, and even then it only mentions his last name. I miss the days when we had what was called journalism.
santiagobenites23-09-2026 - My pick for the win is Isaac Del Toro, given how great he looked while winning the race in Montreal a week and a half ago. My sentimental favorite for the win is Wout Van Aert. I know that that's not going to happen, but I'm sure that a lot of cycling fans would be absolutely thrilled if he did.santiagobenites23-09-2026
- Ineos didn’t know what they had or how to handle him.mij23-09-2026
- Yes and I don’t know any female TT specificalists that are this great. Marlen is amazing, but who else? Vos is a goat but not TT.mij23-09-2026
- I don’t know who some is or are but if you read all the other reports with comments by those who were part of that peleton (and there are at least two others with quite some coverage on this website), it seems like some are happy to stay as anonymous as possible because they’re in a very tiny minority. Even the motorbike comments oppose what the anonymous some from this article are giving as an explanation. I think it’s pretty obvious, despite the Montreal course being considered too tough for him, he’s intending to give it his all. And someone capable of finishing LBL with distinctly more elevation gain 3rd shouldn’t be considered inferior to any of Remco, Wout or Seixas.Jumpyjohn23-09-2026
- I didn’t but it just confirmed that we should have been discussing what he was up to. He obviously decided stages 2-4 were of no use or interest to him in light of his plan for stage 5, or is someone going to try to convince me he woke up that morning one week before the WC and spontaneously decided he’d go for his own personal training ride during a stage race?Jumpyjohn23-09-2026
- "USA - nearly home advantage". Ha - Canadian fans likely to be booing when they see the Stars and Stripes on the road. Trump's 51st state nonsense not likely to be generating many warm fuzzy feelings between neighbours.mobk23-09-2026
- You’d have to move to the ladies to find anyone that could be considered equal in that department.Jumpyjohn23-09-2026
- If Seixas does it, it'd be meteoric, but I have to go with Pidcock as he's my home man, may the best rider win, whomever gets it, will be a valiant winner 👍
leedorney23-09-2026 - Agreed, and I wouldn’t write him off for GTs even as it gets more competitive. If you remember some, like Thomas, who started and had success on the track before slowly improving GT abilities, he should keep the options.Jumpyjohn23-09-2026
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