Erik Lesser gave the German biathletes a further sense of achievement at the end of the World Cup in Annecy, France. The former pursuit world champion was third in the mass start on Sunday at the second victory of the two-time Olympic champion Martin Fourcade. After last four victories in series, the Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bö came in second place.
Lesser, who finished third in the sprint at the World Cup season opener in Östersund and celebrated his second podium place in the Olympic Winter, remained faultless at the shooting range. Arnd Peiffer (Clausthal-Zellerfeld) reached sixth place with a penalty round, his second top 10 position of the season.
“I am very happy about third place and a flawless shooting”, Lesser told ZDF:”Johannes was crackable today. But I quickly realized that my legs are pretty blue.”
Sprint World Champion Benedikt Doll (Breitnau/5) finished 18th. Mass start champion Simon Schempp (Uhingen), who finished fourth in the sprint in Annecy and fifth in the pursuit, was disappointed on Sunday with six mistakes at the shooting range and ended up in 25th place.
The next World Cup in the Olympic Winter will take place from 4. till 7 January 2018 in Oberhof/Thuringia.