Franziska Preuss received a setback at the Biathlon World Cup at the Pokljuka in the fight for the yellow jersey.
When her competitor Lou JeanMonnot won in the mass start, the 31-year-old had to be satisfied with fifth place (+54.6 seconds) after two penalty rounds. In the overall ranking, Prussia’s lead to the French woman shrank from 60 to meager 15 points before the final three races on the Holmenkollen.
After third place in the shortened single on Thursday, Preuss started the race of the top 30 in the Slovenian snow with fresh tailwind. But while the strong French competition around JeanMonnot remained error -free on the first attack, Preuss had to run an extra round directly. After the second shooting, the gap from Prussia to JeanMonnot was already over 40 seconds.
Prussia, which also runs around the small crystal ball in the mass start-up rating, then fought forward again. When shooting the final shooting, the jump onto the podium was possible again – but another mistake caused this dream.
Selina Grotian (3 penalty rounds), in addition to Preuss the only further DSV athlete in the field, was early behind after two mistakes at the first shooting. In the end, the 20-year-old finished tenth (+1: 08.5 minutes).
In the duel around yellow, the World Cup final in Oslo is still serious in the sprint, persecution and another mass start. Before that, however, other races in Slovenia are on the program. From 3:45 p.m., the men contest their mass start. Johannes Thingnes Bö will be missing, the Norwegian has to take a break on the home stretch of his career. On Sunday, the single mixed (12.05 p.m.) and the mixed relay (2:50 p.m./all ZDF and Eurosport) complete the competitions at the Pokljuka.