In Annecy, France, we saw the men’s pursuit race colored by the icy track. Johannes Thingnes Bö, who dominated the World Cup, had problems with his equipment, but Norway still took the triple victory.
Norway dominated the men’s Biathlon World Cup in the early season Johannes Thingnes Bö finally met his winner. in Annecy, France Sturla Holm Lägreid won the men’s pursuit ahead of his countryman Pet Sjåstad Christiansen and Böt, who came third.
The race was really spiced up by a really icy track surface. The competition had to be postponed for 15 minutes while the organizers tried to get the track in a more skiable condition. Lägreid controlled the stretches of the course with his smooth technique, and only shot one penalty.
Bö, known for his fast skiing speed, was in terrible trouble on the track. The Norwegian lost to the fastest skier, the Swiss To Jeremy Finello more than two minutes. Bö, who won five races this season, looked really tired on the longer climbs, and couldn’t slide his skis in the normal way.
– Information has come from the place that there were big problems with the skis. The edges of the skis did not fit. The energy was completely wasted when he tried to work. Other skiers of the same brand of skis also had problems today, Urheilu’s expert Ville Kotikumpu reveal.
Christiansen, who came in second, fired his only two passing shots from the last vertical position. Bö briefly passed his teammate with a zero shooting, but Christiansen quickly caught the World Cup leader on the last ski run. Bö was in trouble both up and down.
– It looked like putting Bambi on slippery ice, nothing really comes of it. In the case of many other skiers, it was also seen that they came uphill even by flat pushing. The equipment that Bö skied on simply had no chance of being better than that, emphasizes Kotikumpu.
Lägreid and Christiansen ski with a different ski brand than Bö, and the problem was not as big for them.
Christiansen cleared Bö in the end in a faster descent, when Bö faltered several times. A legend of the sport Be Einar Björndalen comment on Norway’s TV2 (you will switch to another service) quotes from an athlete who has dominated the sport in recent years.
– This is the worst I’ve seen from Johannes on skis, Björndalen said on the broadcast.
Tuomas Harjula was the best Finn in the 19th and Tero Seppälä 20’s Also Olli Hiidensalo was among the thirty and was 28th.