Biathlon : Tarjei Boe rises from the ashes at the Mass Start in Haute-Savoie
The men’s biathletes in the Biathlon World Cup started their final race in Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie) in rain that gradually eased off but in extremely wet conditions. On the Aravis mass-start, Tarjei Boe proved he still had it in him.
Withdrew by the Norwegian staff for the sprint and pursuit, the veteran of the red armada produced a boss’s race to get back to winning ways on the circuit. Doubtless offended and hurt by his coaches’ decision, the 36-year-old biathlete posted an excellent 19/20 to lift his arms for the first time in over a year since a sprint in Hochfilzen (Austria).
The sixth fastest skier in the event, Tarjei Boe used his experience to keep his closest pursuers at bay and win a race that has completely reopened the debate within the Norwegian squad, who will still have to make a choice to take six athletes to Oberhof (Germany) at the start of January.
Just four seconds behind the Norwegian, Danilo Riethmueller caused a sensation. In ambush on the first laps of the day, the German gradually gained precious positions to the point of crossing the finish line on the box. With just one mistake against the targets, the 26-year-old took his first career podium.
Johannes Thingnes Boe was imperious in the pursuit on Saturday and opened a few doors in Sunday’s competition. The world number one missed out on three times behind the rifle, but was nonetheless able to rely on the best skiing time of the event to climb into the top 3. A podium he has not vacated since his arrival in Grand-Bornand, and which he shares this time with his brother, whose performance he praised for a long time in the finish area.
At the foot of the podium, his Scandinavian team-mates only left a few tiny crumbs for their rivals. Sturla Holm Lægreid (18/20), Martin Uldal (17/20) and Vebjoern Soerum (17/20) rounded off the day’s top 6 to complete the flower ceremony.
Fabien Claude the only Frenchman in the top ten
On the French side, the bill was more expensive. Less in the running than in the sprint and the pursuit on skis, you had to go back to ninth place in this mass-start to find Fabien Claude, the best Blue of the day with two faults on the mats despite the fifth best time on the boards. A few seconds behind him, Eric Perrot (18/20), who let two balls slip for the first time all weekend, was just outside the top 10 in eleventh place.
Sixteenth-placed Emilien Jacquelin was unable to fully defend his chances of being at the front of the race after making four mistakes on the shooting range. The same was true of his compatriot Quentin Fillon-Maillet (15/20), eighteenth in the final rankings. After an ordeal on the shooting range with seven mistakes, Antonin Guigonnat finally came in twenty-ninth.
Live data from the men’s mass-start
The full rankings
The general classification of the mass-start
The overall World Cup standings
Read also
- Le Grand-Bornand: Germany’s Julia Tannheimer and Vanessa Voigt, third in the pursuit, withdraw from the mass start
- The Grand-Bornand World Cup by Aleiks Photo: the chases
- “After the last shot, I really realised that I was fighting for a place in the flowers”: Venla Lehtonen took the Grand-Bornand pursuit to a new level.
- “After two races in Le Grand-Bornand, Simon Fourcade talks about his confidence at the start of the season.
- “I gave it my all, it was incredible”: another fine performance from Maya Cloetens, twentieth in the pursuit at Le Grand-Bornand
- Le Grand-Bornand: relive the podium finishes of Julia Simon, Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin in the pursuit on video
