For the German biathletes, the sprint in Annecy was characterized by light and shadow. While Justus Strelow and Philipp Nawrath were convincing, Philipp Horn had a pitch-black day. Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen secured the victory.
The Norwegian delivered a flawless shooting performance. But the first three are close together. His compatriot Johannes Dale-Skjevdal missed twice – but he was only 3.5 seconds behind. Emilien Jacquelin, who made a mistake, is five seconds behind. The pursuit on Saturday will be exciting.
Nawrath with an “annoying mistake”
And the German biathletes may also have a say in the fight for the podium. Philpp Nawrath was best in tenth place, with only one disc remaining. He starts the race 26 seconds after the winner. “The mistake was annoying. But luck was on my side because nine crossed the finish line”said the Allgäu native on ZDF.
Justus Strelow made no mistakes, but struggled with the demanding cross-country ski run. He finished the race in 13th place (+35.1). David Zobel was 18th (1/+35.1).
Horn misses a good starting point for his pursuers
The German hopeful Philipp Horn, who was still on the podium in the last sprint in Hochfilzen, had a pitch-black day. Last year he was fourth in Annecy, but after the first shooting the podium chance was lost with three mistakes. In the standing stage he missed another target – with a deficit of 1:21 minutes, he goes into the pursuit on Saturday with a big mortgage.
Horn after his shooting disaster: “That’s biathlon”
“I can’t explain the shooting performance. I was actually calm and focused and did well on the first lap. But that’s biathlon – after the first shooting the race was already over,” said a disappointed Horn.
Simon Kaiser missed twice and finished the sprint in 23rd place (+ 1:04.3). Danilo Riethmüller incurred three penalties. He goes into the pursuit in 51st place (+1:36.6).