France has named a full-sized team for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa, Portugal on 14 December.
The senior men’s team will be led by Fabien Palcau and Simon Bedard, the second and third French finishers behind Yann Schrub at the Cross d’Allonnes. 2023 champion Schrub has declined selection in order to focus on the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee on 10 January, Bedard was also part of France’s medal-winning team in the mixed relay last year.
Meanwhile, with the news announced on the French Athletics Federation website left open the possibility of world 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier joining the team in Lagoa.
"We are keeping open the possibility of selecting a sixth athlete, namely Jimmy Gressier," it said of the athlete who won three successive men's U23 titles at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Šamorín 2017, Tilburg 2018 and Lisbon 2019 and bronze in the senior men's race in Dublin 2021.
"Jimmy is potentially interested in participating, but he still needs reliable indicators of his form, after numerous commitments following the World Championships and having resumed training only a few weeks ago. He will make his decision after the Course de l’Escalade, in which he’ll compete on December 7 in Geneva (Switzerland)."
The senior women’s team features in-form Alessia Zarbo who was the leading French finisher at the Cross d’Allonnes, the principal selection race for Lagoa, on Sunday when she finished second overall.
Zarbo has been in excellent form this year across all surfaces. In recent weeks, Zarbo has set French records on the roads at 10km (31:00) and the half marathon (68:20). She was also second on home soil at the 2025 European 10,000m Cup in Pacé.
The senior women’s team also includes 2025 European indoor 1500m champion Agathe Guillemot who was part of France’s silver medal-winning team in the mixed relay at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Antalya.
The U20 and U23 teams include 2023 European U20 bronze medallist Jade Le Corre who contests the women’s U23 race while European U20 1500m fourth-placer Alois Abraham has been named in the men’s U20 team.
France will also be fielding a team in the mixed relay. The team includes Antoine Senard and Emilie Girard who ran the first two legs of their silver medal-winning team last year.
The full French team can be found here.