by Matteo Morelli

The senior Grand Prix events are ready to kick off! This season, the Grand Prix de France will open the series, taking over the spot traditionally held by Skate America as the first of the six senior Grand Prix events. For a fourth year in a row, Angers will welcome back the athletes competing for top positions and qualification for the Grand Prix Final, which will be held this year in Nagoya, Japan.  

Teams at the event

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson launched their new programmes on home soil in Sheffield, at the first Bolero Cup Ice Dance Competition. The British duo selected the Spice Girls for their rhythm dance, and traditional Scottish music for their free. After earning gold in Sheffield and at Nebelhorn Trophy, they will aim to reach the top of the podium at this event too. Last season, they were the only two ice dance teams to have won gold at both Grand Prix events and earned their first world medal, a bronze.

Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri have not yet started their season: in fact, they typically debut their new programmes at Lombardia Trophy, an event they have won every year since 2016. The three-time European champions will begin their season in Angers, where they have previously earned a bronze, a silver, and two gold medals. Their rhythm dance is to music by Backstreet Boys, while their free dance is set to music from the movie “Diamanti” by director Ferzan Özpetek. 

Current Olympic Champion Guillaume Cizeron launched his new partnership with Laurence Fournier Baudry at the 2025 French Masters, where they won the event. They were scheduled to make their international debut at Nebelhorn Trophy but withdrew, making Angers their first international competition together. They are joined by two other French teams: Natacha Lagouge and Arnaud Caffa, returning to Angers for the third time, and Célina Fradji and Jean-Hans Fourneaux, who are making their senior Grand Prix debut.

Lithuania’s Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevičius won the Skate to Milano Olympic Qualifier in Beijing, China, securing their spot to compete at the next Winter Olympic Games, after Reed finally obtained Lithuanian citizenship last year. This season, they have already earned a silver medal at Bolero Cup and are aiming at earning more medals from this Grand Prix and Skate Canada, to add to their three Grand Prix bronze medals won over the last two seasons.

Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin won the new Trialeti Trophy Challenger Series in Georgia, setting new personal bests for both their rhythm dance and total score. Just a week earlier, they had also won the Denis Ten Memorial, which means that Angers will be their third consecutive competition.

Two American teams will also travel overseas to compete in France: Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville, who won bronze in Angers last year, and Eva Pate and Logan Bye, fresh off their victory at Lombardia Trophy.

Finally, Marie-Jade Lauriault and Roman Le Gac return to Angers for a third consecutive year, following their win at Kinoshita Group Cup in September.

Event info: The rhythm dance kicks off on Saturday, October 18, at 1:00pm (CET); the free dance occurs on Sunday, October 19, at 11:30pm (CET).