The Japan Times - British ice dancers Fear and Gibson lead at ISU Grand Prix de France

The world bronze medallists scored 84.38 points for their routine to open up a 3.4-point lead on Lithuanians Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius going into Sunday's free skate final.

Reigning Olympic ice dance champion Guillaume Cizeron, now partnered with Canadian Laurence Fournier Beaudry, are in third position with 78.00 points in western France.

During a sequence of choreographed steps to Madonna's Vogue, French skater Cizeron dropped a knee to the ice, an error tantamount to a fall, which cost them precious points.

"I'd have to watch the video. I don't know what I did, it was going so fast," said Cizeron.

"It's a mistake that shouldn't be repeated. It cost a lot of points, even if it wasn't a huge mistake. But it's a good lesson for (Sunday's free dance) and future competitions."

The new duo, formed only at the beginning of the year, skated together in Angers for the first time on the international stage.

Olympic champion in 2022 alongside Gabriella Papadakis, Cizeron returned this season with Fournier Beaudry as his new partner with their sights on the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in less than four months.

In the women's competition, Japanese teenager Ami Nakai leads teammate and big favourite Kaori Sakamoto going into Saturday's free skating final.

Japan's reigning world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara are also bidding to seal the pairs gold.

US two-time world champion Ilia Malinin opens his Olympic season in the men's short programme looking to deny France's Adam Siao Him Fa a fourth gold in Angers.

S.Yamada--JT