France claimed two relay victories over the weekend and also finished on the podium in the remaining two races. The Germans got off to a very disappointing start, failing to secure a single podium finish.
Women’s 4×6 km
The 2025–26 World Cup season got underway in Östersund over the weekend with relay races, bringing several surprising results. Dorothea Wierer started very strongly in the women’s relay, using only one spare round and handing over the relay in first place. After two relay legs, the Czech team was leading, but at that point many teams were still within half a minute of each other. This was not the case for Norway and Sweden: Norway were completely taken out of contention by Tandrevold on the second leg, expanding the deficit to more than two minutes, while Sweden were put in a difficult position already on the first leg by Skottheim, falling more than a minute and a half behind.
After the third leg, the number of teams fighting for the win was reduced to three: France, Italy and Austria. On the final leg, Lou Jeanmonnot proved unbeatable, securing the season’s first victory for France. Behind her, the young Auchentaller brought Italy home in second place, while Davidová secured third for the Czech team.
Men’s 4×7.5 km
In the men’s race, Norway led from start to finish and won the relay ahead of France and Sweden. In theory, this alone could close this part of the article, but the race was far from straightforward. The French team came back strongly to finish second after a very poor start: Claude handed over after the opening leg more than a minute down after skiing two penalty loops, and the gap could not be reduced for a long time. The Swedes started even worse than the French, with Brandt collecting three penalty loops and beginning the race almost two minutes behind.
As the race approached the final legs, it seemed the only remaining question was by how much Norway would win, as they were gradually increasing their advantage. However, Christiansen was forced to ski a penalty loop after his first shooting bout, significantly improving the chances of their rivals. He then completed the standing shooting without error, and although the margin was not large, Norway still finished 15 seconds ahead of France, with Sweden following in third place.
There was also an extremely rare collapse during the race. Austria were within one minute of Norway at the halfway point, running in fourth place, but then completely fell apart. Muehlbacher completed his leg already more than two and a half minutes down, but that still paled in comparison to what followed. Patrick Jakob hit only 5 of his 16 targets, forcing him to ski five penalty loops and bringing the team home in 19th place, six and a half minutes behind.
Single Mixed Relay
In Sunday’s single mixed relay, the format resulted in very small gaps throughout the race, and one thing never changed: the Swedish team remained in the lead all the way. The Samuelsson–Halvarsson duo never relinquished first place and went on to win, finishing ahead of Norway and France. France’s bronze medal was a notable achievement given that they had to complete a penalty loop. Germany finished fourth and Austria fifth, both still within one minute of the winners.
Mixed Relay
The mixed relay on Sunday late afternoon produced several surprising performances. Among the negative surprises were the Swedes and Germans. After the two male legs, Germany were already more than a minute behind, while Sweden had fallen more than two minutes off the leading pace. On the positive side, the United States stood out: after the first two legs they were running in second place, within seconds of Norway. Italy and France were also in the leading group, trailing by only a few seconds at the halfway point.
Some reshuffling occurred on the third leg: the Americans dropped to more than a minute behind, while Italy were still within ten seconds at the exchange. On the final legs, Tandrevold once again took Norway out of contention. As in the women’s relay, she was forced to ski a penalty loop on the final shooting, allowing both France and Italy to pass Norway, who finished third. Vittozzi could not match Jeanmonnot’s perfect 10/10 shooting, meaning Italy finished second, while France, running in the leading group throughout, claimed a well-deserved victory.
Further back, Tannheimer had to ski a penalty loop for Germany, and they eventually finished eighth, almost two and a half minutes behind.
Early Power Balance Based on the Relays
Several athletes’ skiing performances deserve to be highlighted from the weekend. For Italy, both Wierer and Vittozzi skied extremely well, while for France the performances of Richard, Jeanmonnot and Braisaz are a source of optimism. On the Swedish side, Magnusson and Hanna Öberg also showed good form, and Slovenia’s Lampič was once again among the fastest.
Norway and Germany, however, have reason to be disappointed. Germany did not have a single female athlete who was within 20 seconds of the fastest skier on her leg, and on several occasions they lost more than half a minute on the course. This makes it clear that, in their current state, they will struggle at the Olympics if they want to fight for a medal. Norway performed slightly better, and there is still room for optimism as Ida Lien, one of their strongest skiers, was not part of the relay lineup, meaning changes could still improve their overall strength. For Germany, however, it is difficult to see who could be brought in to significantly lift their performance. In addition, neither Norway nor Germany can be satisfied with their shooting performances.
In the men’s field, Sweden, Norway and France appear to be the most convincing trio when analysing the on-track performances. Germany are slightly closer to the leading group here, but an Olympic medal still seems distant. Italy are clearly lagging behind in the men’s relays, and for the mixed relay they need to find two strong athletes alongside Wierer and Vittozzi if they want a realistic podium chance. At present, Hofer and Giacomel appear to be the most likely options. Taking individual races into account, special attention should be paid to Wright: both his shooting and skiing were very solid, and based on this he appears to have taken a significant step forward, making him one of the most serious contenders for Wednesday when evaluating relay performances.
The World Cup in Östersund continues with the individual races, with a summary to follow later next week.
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