Biathlon: the IBU has decided not to renew the mass start at the end of the first World Cup stage… for the time being
At the start of the 2024/2025 winter season, the IBU scheduled a mass-start at the end of the first stage of the World Cup in Kontiolahti (Finland). Following an individual short and a sprint, the first mass-starts of the season took place.
However, when the calendar for the 2025/2026 World Cup was revealed at the beginning of January, this placement of a mass-start at the first stage was not renewed.
It was an experiment aimed at programming one of the most attractive formats at the start of the season,” the IBU’s communications department explained to Nordic Magazine. We are currently evaluating the reactions [after the races organised in Kontiolahti in December].

The fact that the first mass-start of the 2025/2026 season will only take place at the end of the third stage, in Le Grand-Bornand (Haute-Savoie), is primarily due to timing considerations. The 2025/2026 calendar had already been approved by the Technical Committee before the start of this season, so we couldn’t wait for the evaluation of this test,” reveals the IBU. We will learn the lessons from this and reconsider the 2026/2027 calendar on the basis of this evaluation.”
So it’s not out of the question that in future World Cup seasons, mass-starts will once again be scheduled at the end of the first stage.
- IBU breaks new ground with mass-starts for the first stage of the 2024/2025 World Cup
- “To offer fans an attractive and exciting experience”: why has the IBU chosen to place mass-starts at the end of the first stage of the World Cup?
- Relays by gender on the opening day, Le Grand-Bornand before Christmas, the return of Otepää a year before the World Championships: the full 2025/2026 World Cup programme
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