Yann Schrub will be looking to seal his selection for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa in the senior men's 6.71km at the Cross d'Allonnes, a World Cross Country Tour Gold meeting, on Sunday (23) afternoon.
Schrub made history in Brussels two years ago by becoming the first ever French winner of the senior men’s title in championship history and the 29-year-old begins as one of the favourites in the principal selection race to determine the senior and U23 men’s teams.
But while Jimmy Gressier has deservedly garnered the headlines for his exploits at the World Athletics Championships, Schrub has also amassed arguably his best season to date.
One day after Gressier won the half marathon title, Schrub won the inaugural individual and team 10km titles at the European Running Championships in Brussels-Leuven in April. On the track, Schrub beat Gressier for the French 5000m title before finishing ninth in the same event at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Gressier will be involved in the Cross d'Allonnes but he is expected to compete earlier in the programme in a non-competitive 5km before acting as the race starter for the senior men's race. The SPAR European Cross Country Championships do not feature in Gressier's competition plans but the Frenchman has expressed his desire to compete at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee on 10 January.
But either way, Schrub will still face a competitive field replete with domestic talent in Allonnes, including Fabien Palcau and Hugo Hay, both of whom have been in excellent form on the roads.
Palcau, who also finished fourth in the 10km at the European Running Championships and won gold in the team race, clocked a 27:31 PB in Lille last weekend while Hay continued his comeback from injury with a solo 27:43 10km in Bordeaux.
Hay has an excellent history at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, winning individual medals and team gold in the U23 race in 2017 and 2018 before graduating to fourth in the senior race in Dublin 2021 when France won team gold.
Other prospective contenders for a qualifying spot in Allonnes include two-time European U23 cross country medallist Valentin Bresc and Luc Le Baron who finished fifth in the U23 race last year.
Leading aspirants in the U23 category this year include Pierre Boudy, who finished ninth individually in Antalya last year, and Anas Lagtiy-Chaoudar, who improved to 3:31.58 in the 1500m this year.
The favourites for the domestic stakes in the senior women's 6.71km include Manon Trapp, who finished eighth at last year's SPAR European Cross Country Championships, and French 10km (31:00) and half marathon (68:20) record-holder Alessia Zarbo.
European indoor 1500m champion Agathe Guillemot also steps up in distance to contest the senior women's race.
The story has been edited to reflect that Gressier will not compete in the senior men's race in Cross d'Allonnes
