In Annecy, France, Philipp Horn narrowly missed the podium. Martin Uldal surprisingly came out ahead of Johannes Thingnes Bö.
Norway’s high-flyer Johannes Thingnes Bö surprisingly had to admit defeat to his teammate Simon Uldal in Annecy, France. The Swede Sebastian Samuelsson came third in the sprint. As the best German, Philipp Horn narrowly missed the podium. Philipp Nawrath took sixth place.
The weather was not kind at the start of the last World Cup weekend of the year in Annecy. After a rainy morning, the 100 athletes did not expect light snow conditions on the course. And at the Stade de Biathlon Sylvie Becaert, every missed shot was punished with a penalty loop.
Horn on the move with “absolute rockets”.
The best performance was delivered by Philipp Horn (0/1), who was strong on the cross-country ski trail and led the rankings for a long time. However, he missed a target in the standing position and, as it turned out, also missed the top three. Thanks to a 90 percent hit rate, he was still able to establish himself in the top group and enjoy the best performance of the season. Horn was pleased that he didn’t get hectic at the stand. He said to himself: “Stay calm Philip” . That paid off. As fourth fastest of the day, Horn praised the perfect preparation of his skis. They were “absolute rockets.”
Teammate Philipp Nawrath (1/0) celebrated his first podium with third place in Kontiolahti and confirmed his good form in eighth place in Hochfilzen. A place in the top 8 was also expected at the third World Cup stop of the winter. Fourth and sixth place was a top result for the strongest in the DSV team. “I started the race offensively“, says Nawrath. “I’m happy with a mistake.“
Justus Strelow (0/0) remained flawless and came in 17th to score numerous World Cup points.
Kühn is chasing his best form
Johannes Kühn (1/1), on the other hand, is not yet able to put his strengths on the snow this winter. After missing two targets, the 33-year-old had to settle for a place in the top 30.
Riethmüller received four penalties
Danilo Riethmüller also sold himself short, because while he was running well, he completely botched the first stop at the shooting range and received three penalties while lying down. There was another lap standing, so the 25-year-old from the Harz region had to worry about taking part in the chase.
Simon Kaiser, 38th in the Hochfilzen sprint on his World Cup debut, came 39th this time.