Ponsiluoma doubled up, Vittozzi proved herself again, and the French gave another sign of the depth of their squad. For the Norwegians, the many finalists came with plenty of misses, while the Germans found encouraging signs even without a podium. What can we learn from the Loop One weekend ahead of the start of the season?
This year’s weekend was different from last year’s: races were held on both days, and the qualifying rounds were run in different formats. On Saturday, an individual decided the 15 fastest athletes who would reach the afternoon final, while on Sunday four heats decided the 15 places in the final. Besides the three fastest in each heat, the three best times among the rest also earned a place in the final. Several lessons can be drawn from the weekend’s results, which I have summarised below in five points.
1. Ponsiluoma’s strong performance
The Swede deserves a special mention: he doubled up over the weekend as far as the finals are concerned, including a photo-finish win. What stands out even beyond that is that he won Saturday’s qualification and was also the best in his own heat on Sunday. That is remarkable, and on top of that his shooting was above 90% over the weekend, significantly better than during last season.
2. An extremely strong French team
I wouldn’t want to be the one at the French national team who has to decide who gets left out of the squad for each World Cup round. None of the women in the A team has retired, while on the men’s side only Jacquelin is missing, who has announced that he is concentrating on cycling. That is why we saw athletes this weekend who are not in the A squad but delivered far from poor performances.
Among the women, Michelon, one of the usual names, was strong: she won Saturday’s final and had also done well in qualifying. On Sunday she had no realistic chance of reaching the final after the first shooting, but overall it looks like we will have to take her seriously again this season. On Saturday she was the only French woman in the final, but on Sunday three of her compatriots made it, and two of them, Simon and Mengin, stood on the podium, while Botet finished eighth.
In the men’s races there were three French finalists on Saturday and two on Sunday, including Levet, who is currently not in the A squad. The strength of the team is shown by the fact that this many finalist places came while another part of the team was racing elsewhere.
3. Fluctuating Norwegians
There were very strong performances, but also serious setbacks over the weekend. Many Norwegians reached the top 15 on both days. The men had 10 finalist placings over the two days, but they also missed a lot of shots on many occasions. On Saturday we saw Dale miss 6, on Sunday Frey 7 or Botn 5. In total they had 2 podium finishes in the men’s races and none in the women’s. As a team they remain very strong, and almost anyone from the national team can reach a World Cup podium, but we did not see anything truly extra from anyone this weekend.
4. No podium for the hosts
At first glance the Germans might be disappointed that nobody finished in the top 3 in any of the finals. On closer inspection, though, the situation is nowhere near that bad. On the women’s side Hettich-Walz can provide stability, while Tannheimer is only 21 and reached the final on both days. Puff can also represent the younger generation: she did not perform badly this weekend, and it would be surprising if she did not get more World Cup opportunities. The men also had several finalists on both days, and Horn and Nawrath were in the top 15 on both days. The less encouraging news is that most of the A-squad athletes are over 30, so it is unlikely that much of a step forward can be expected from them in the longer term.
5. Vittozzi and the Italians
Lisa Vittozzi again won a final, which shows that she will have to be reckoned with this year too, and the only question is which of her teammates can get close to her. The retired Wierer, judging by last season, does not look easy to replace any time soon. Besides Vittozzi, only Trabucchi raced on the women’s side this weekend, and she did not deliver a strong performance on either day. At the moment it is hard to see a competitive Italian women’s relay at the start of the year. On the men’s side things are no better: only Hofer managed to shine, but he cannot be expected to keep performing like this in the long term at the age of 37. Giacomel’s condition when he returns after his heart surgery and injury is also a big question mark.
Looking ahead, test races are expected from mid-November, followed by the start of the World Cup at the end of November in Kontiolahti.
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