11:41
2nd change
Germany and Norway come together for the second change. Benedikt Doll will now be sent to the 7.5 kilometers for the DSV team, Tarjei Bø is on the route for the Norwegians. The Slovenians change as third. France is fourth, ahead of Canada and Austria. Felix Leitner gets 43.5 seconds behind on the track.
11:40 a.m
Competitors drop out
While Johannes Kühn can stay close to the Norwegian, there are now larger gaps just before the next change. Claude lost five seconds for France, Eder is already 40 seconds behind for Austria.
11:38
Swiss follow
After Joscha Burkhalter completely collapsed in his section, the Swiss continue to follow. After a good partial race, Sebastian Stalder takes 3:34 minutes on his last lap.
11:37
Laegreid sets the pace
Sturla Holm Laegreid has approached Johannes Kühn and is now doing the speed work for the top duo. For Kühn it means staying with the Norwegian. France are missing 15.8 seconds. The Austrians lost another five seconds.
11:36
Sweden does not appear
The Swedes continue to struggle and don’t really get ahead when shooting. Jesper Nelin needs three spare rounds and loses time again as a result. He is back on the track 1:36 minutes behind.
11:35
4. Shoot
Johannes Kühn and Sturla Holm Laegreid shoot together for their nations. Both of them make two mistakes, but since the competition also leaves feathers, they keep the top positions! Kühn goes into his final lap with two spares, 3.9 seconds ahead of Laegreid. Claude starts again for France in third position. Simon Eder needs two spares to make the targets fall. As a result, Canada and Slovenia slip past. Austria is in sixth place.
11:32
Laegreid closes the gap
Sturla Holm Laegreid works his way back up to Kühn after his spare. He was able to reduce his gap to just 5.6 seconds. Simon Eder is 28.5 seconds behind for the Austrians, but is currently in fourth place for the ÖSV team.
11:29
3. Shoot
The Swedes had to put up with two spare rounds through Jesper Nelin and thus lost even more time to the top nations. With a gap of 1:32 minutes, Nelin starts the round again.
11:28
3. Shoot
The second group has arrived at the shooting range for the first time and the first thing to do here is to hit the targets in the prone position. Johannes Kühn did an outstanding job, gaining a lead of 14.8 seconds over Norway. Claude returns to the track for France in third place. Simon Eder was able to reduce his deficit to 21.9 seconds with a good condition.
11:25
Three close together
Norway, France and Germany are very close together and will probably come to the third shooting together. Simon Eder is 23.9 seconds behind for Austria.
11:23
1st change
Sweden finally transitions in 16th place, 1:17 behind the leading nation. The Swiss are already without a chance with three minutes. Burkhalter arrives in the transition area completely exhausted.
11:22
1st change
Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen comes over the line and makes the switch to the Frenchman first with a narrow lead. He is now sending Sturla Holm Laegreid to the 7.5 kilometers for Norway. Justus Strelow gave his all on the final meters and gave Johannes Kühn just 6.3 seconds behind on the journey. Austria changes to fourth place. David Komatz was 21.2 seconds behind in the first part.
11:18
Christiansen almost there
Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen has almost closed the gap to his rival from France before the first change. Strelow had to be torn off a little again. He’s missing a good twelve seconds.
11:17
Christiansen and Strelow run over
Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen and Justus Strelow don’t hesitate and have already closed the gap to their French rivals. The Swedes ended up in 17th place after two penalties and now have to fight their way back. The Swiss, for their part, are actually already out of the race.
11:15
2. Shoot
The second shooting continues and this time the Swede struggles! Peppe Femling is still at the shooting range struggling with his marksmanship while the competition is already back on the track! Eric Perrot gains a big lead and is 14.5 seconds ahead of Christiansen. Strelow goes into the final loop in fourth after two spares. Komatz is sixth.
11:10
It’s bunching up
After the first shooting, the field is pushed back together on the track. Femling has been caught and Strelow runs for the German team directly in the slipstream of the Swede. Christiansen has already approached again.
11:08
1. Shoot
Trouble for Burkhalter! The Swiss doesn’t match very well on the first shot and has great difficulty reloading. This then leads to the fact that he has to go into the penalty loop once. Now it’s going to be really difficult to get back.
11:07
1. Shoot
It goes to the first shooting. Who stays in the game in prone? The Swede Femling puts the pressure on and shoots the targets quickly and accurately. But Justus Strelow also cuts a good figure and hits the targets without reloading. He’s back on the track in second place. Komatz was also able to hit all targets.
11:05
First gap tears
Shortly before shooting, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen increases the pace again and actually tears the first small gap.
11:04
Komatz and Burkhalter appear
The pace is still slow. David Komatz and Joscha Burkhalter use this to work their way up the group. You walk immediately behind Strelow.
11:02
The usual suspects
Of course, the first few meters are all about getting into position. Up front, the usual suspects are currently doing the pace work. Christiansen leads in front of the Frenchman Perrot, Feming from Sweden and Strelow.
11:00 a.m
Here we go!
It’s served and the 20 start runners set off on their 7.5 kilometers. Justus Strelow opens for Germany. The Swiss send Joscha Burkhalter as the first starter on the trail, with the Austrians David Komatz starting. The favorites from Norway have Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen on the track.
10:54
What’s up for Austrians?
The Austrians presented themselves cautiously in the first race, clearly missing out on a good result. The pressure on the season should be all the greater today. David Komatz and Simon Eder, who got the best results in singles, will start the race. Felix Leitner was placed third. Patrick Jakob should then set the final point.
10:48
Hartweg leads Swiss
The Swiss celebrated a sensational result in the first race with second place for Niklas Hartweg. Today it should be more difficult to get in front, because in the singles only Stalder could deliver a solid result besides Hartweg. The relay race will be opened by Joscha Burkhalter, followed by Sebastian Stalder before Niklas Hartweg runs in third place. Jeremy Finello will wrap up the season.
10:42
Who are the top favourites?
In addition to the German team, the Norwegians and Swedes will certainly be the top favorites today. The Norwegians had a mixed start to the season and were particularly down on the shooting range, but still managed to get some of their athletes into the top ten. Sweden can rely on individual winners Ponsiluoma as well as Samuelsson and Nelin. You certainly have to take the French into account.
10:36
Zobel is missing in the German squad
The best athlete from the individual on Tuesday will be missing in the German squad today. David Zobel, who sensationally clinched the podium at the start of the season, is not present in the first season of the winter. The race is started by Justus Strelow, followed by Johannes Kühn, Benedikt Doll and Roman Rees, who just missed the podium in the individual. The chances of the quartet on the podium are by no means usual.
10:29
First season of the year
After the first points of the 2022/23 winter season were at stake in Finland in the last few days, the first seasons are on the agenda today. Nothing has changed over the last few years. The men run four times 7.5 kilometers. Each athlete shoots once prone and once standing. The athletes have a maximum of three reload cartridges at their disposal in order to still be able to hit targets that were not hit the first time. If that doesn’t work, it goes into the penalty loop.
Warm welcome
Hello and welcome to the Kontiolahti Men’s Relay! The live ticker starts in good time before the start of the Skijäger race.