Italian–French successes in Hochfilzen, Germans still searching for answers

Over the weekend in Hochfilzen, Austria, both the men’s and women’s individual races produced one French and one Italian victory. In the relays, Norway and Sweden claimed the wins.

Women

Sprint: Jeanmonnot dominance, German absences

Earlier in the week it was confirmed that Franziska Preuss and Selina Grotian would miss the entire weekend due to illness, making it clear that Preuss would not be able to defend her title. The women’s sprint began with Suvi Minkkinen leading the overall standings.Weather conditions were close to perfect, so it was expected that shooting errors would be heavily punished. Among the top ten finishers, only three athletes had to ski a penalty loop.France’s Lou Jeanmonnot was unbeatable on the day. Her skiing performance was even stronger than in the opening World Cup round, and with perfect shooting she won by 15 seconds ahead of Norway’s Kirkeeide, who finished second despite one penalty loop. Sweden’s Anna Magnusson completed the podium, and with that result took over the lead in the overall World Cup standings for the first time in her career.Julia Simon, returning to competition, delivered a more subdued performance, finishing 19th with one miss. Minkkinen ended the race outside the points in 48th place, putting herself in a difficult position ahead of the pursuit. Several big names failed to make the top 60, including Kuzmina in 75th, while Leinamo, who had celebrated a podium in Östersund, finished only 84th.

Pursuit: Vittozzi’s comeback

Perfect conditions greeted the athletes once again in the pursuit, reinforcing the idea that victory would require near-flawless shooting. Lisa Vittozzi delivered exactly that, shooting clean and winning the race. Starting 14th, the Italian claimed her first World Cup victory since March 2024. Second place went to the remarkably consistent Anna Magnusson, who further strengthened her lead in the overall standings with her fourth podium of the season. Kirkeeide finished third despite three shooting errors. Jeanmonnot, who started from the front, remained in contention for a long time but missed twice in the final shooting, eventually finishing seventh. The biggest drop belonged to Voigt, who fell from 7th to 29th, while the biggest climb came from Suvi Minkkinen, who gained 36 places to finish 13th. In the overall standings, Magnusson’s lead has grown more than 50 points, followed by Kirkeeide and Jeanmonnot. Consistency is proving crucial, as Minkkinen slipped to sixth after a weaker weekend. The Germans still have little to celebrate, with Voigt their best athlete only in 18th place overall.

Relay: Swedish control, Norwegian questions

The women’s relay took place on Saturday between the two individual races, with not all nations fielding their strongest line-ups. Italy was missing Dorothea Wierer, Germany will likely reintegrate Preuss upon her return, while Norway once again had to do without Ida Lien. Sweden dominated the race from start to finish, never relinquishing the lead and securing a highly convincing victory. Based on this performance, it would not be surprising to see the Halvarsson–Magnusson–Elvira Öberg–Hanna Öberg quartet line up at the Olympics. Norway finished second with only one change compared to Östersund. Knotten, Tandrevold and Kirkeeide appear to have secure positions, but the identity of the fourth relay member remains an open question. This ties into an ongoing internal issue, as Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold’s teammate Knotten is currently training separately from the national team. The 30-year-old was excluded from the squad months ago due to disagreements over training methods. Biathlon legend Ole Einar Bjørndalen commented on the situation by saying: “I’m a little ashamed to be Norwegian.” He added that it was disappointing such a strong athlete was not part of the national team. Knotten responded by saying: “I completely agree with Bjørndalen. The federation has contributed nothing to my development this year.” The situation will be worth watching going forward. Germany made several changes due to the absence of Preuss and Grotian, bringing in Weidel and Tannheimer, and the performance improved noticeably. The German quartet avoided penalty loops, used eight spare rounds, and finished third. Finland and Slovakia achieved strong fourth and fifth places, close to the maximum of their potential. France and Italy, however, will have plenty to think about. France made one change and Italy two. Bened replaced Michelon and performed well, but Richard incurred a penalty loop, preventing the team from fighting back, and France finished sixth. Italy completely collapsed, finishing only 11th. Auchentaller needed six spare rounds, Comola four, creating a huge deficit. Skiing speed was also weak, with Auchentaller and Passler ranking only 19th of 20 on their respective legs.

Men

Sprint: Giacomel vs Perrot

In the men’s sprint, only athletes with perfect shooting had a chance at the podium. The race was extremely tight, with the top four separated by less than ten seconds. Italy’s Tommaso Giacomel emerged victorious, claiming the second World Cup win of his career. He was followed by Eric Perrot and Germany’s Philipp Horn, for whom this marked a first-ever top-three finish. Overall leader Johan-Olav Botn finished fourth, while last season’s overall winner Laegreid placed fifth.

Pursuit: Perrot’s flawless day

The pursuit saw the top four from the sprint settle the podium positions among themselves. Eric Perrot enjoyed a perfect day, shooting clean and taking the win. Giacomel, with one miss, finished second, while Botn, also with one error, completed the podium. Horn narrowly missed out in fourth place. The biggest drop belonged to Poland’s Galica, who fell from 24th to 57th. The biggest gain was made by American Maxime Germain, climbing from 54th to 35th. Botn remains in the overall lead, but Giacomel and Perrot both closed the gap.

Relay: Norwegian consistency, historic US result

Norway entered Sunday’s relay as the clear favourite, fielding overall leader Botn alongside Dale, who had won all three races in the IBU Cup. The Norwegians delivered a stable performance, leading almost throughout the race. Laegreid managed to break away from the French, and anchor man Christiansen delivered perfect shooting to secure the victory. Perrot, anchoring for France, was only able to reduce the backlog, as France finished second. Sweden claimed third place, despite already trailing by more than a minute at the first exchange and finishing with a similar deficit. The United States finished fourth, achieving their best-ever result in a World Cup relay. Italy, as in the women’s relay, struggled again and finished sixth, nearly three minutes behind.

Overall picture ahead of the final pre-Christmas weekend

After Hochfilzen, the picture is becoming clearer regarding which athletes are stable performers and which are still searching for form early in the season. On the women’s side, Anna Magnusson continues to impress with her shooting, hitting 38 of 40 targets over the weekend. Her overall lead is no coincidence, as season-long consistency usually decides the crystal globe. Kirkeeide continues to look increasingly convincing, while France’s performances remain somewhat inconsistent, raising the question of whether they can find greater stability. The French team also faces decisions, as Paula Botet won all three individual races in the IBU Cup, potentially earning a World Cup opportunity at the expense of Gilonne Guigonnat. Italy’s Wierer and Vittozzi remain in strong form, while Germany continues to search for a clear leader. Anna Weidel’s two top-10 finishes and the relay podium provide a positive starting point.

On the men’s side, the weekend clearly belonged to Giacomel and Perrot. Giacomel missed just one shot across the individual races, while Perrot shot perfectly. Johan-Olav Botn remained solid and holds onto the overall lead, while Laegreid is currently struggling to reach podium contention and may need improvements both in skiing speed and shooting.

The final World Cup weekend before Christmas will take place in Annecy from Thursday to Sunday. Only individual races are scheduled, with sprints and pursuits followed by the first mass start of the season.

Choosing the athlete of the weekend proved impossible between Perrot and Giacomel, as they achieved identical individual results and delivered similarly strong relay performances. For that reason, they share the honour.

Athlete of the weekend: Eric Perrot / Tommaso Giacomel

Positive surprise: Maren Kirkeeide

Negative surprise: Julia Simon