Despite concentrated power, the German biathletes missed the podium at the end of the home World Cup in Ruhpolding.
In the mass start over 15 km, World Champion Simon Schempp (Uhingen) was the best of six German starters after a shooting mistake and took sixth place.
Schempp “was particularly satisfied with the shooting. I really wanted to meet and finally deliver a good shooting result. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t the fastest,”said Schempp on ZDF.
The Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bö celebrated his sixth win this season. The 24-year-old won despite a penalty round in front of his big rival Martin Fourcade (2/+4.5 seconds).
The Frenchman defended his overall World Cup lead with the 15th (!) podium place in a row across the seasons. Third place went to Fourcade’s flawless fellow countryman Antonin Guigonnat (+8.4).
Like Schempp, Arnd Peiffer (Clausthal-Zellerfeld/1) finished seventh and Benedikt Doll (Breitnau/1) ninth in the Top 10. Roman Rees (Showland/13th), Erik Lesser (Frankenhain/18th) and Johannes Kühn (Reit im Winkl/25th) did not succeed.
After the first two reclining shootings, 21 athletes – including five Germans – were within half a minute. On the third round, however, the stars Fourcade and Bö set the pace, and only Schempp could follow from the DSV starts.
The 29-year-old defended his front position with the next flawless deposit and was the first to pursue Bö with a gap of just a few seconds.
Behind them were Lesser, Doll and Peiffer in the top 10 – but their gap to the leaders grew considerably on the penultimate lap.
Schempp, who lately complained about muscular problems in the back area, fought like a lion and did not lose too much time on the strong gust. However, he forgiven the possible success with the shooting mistake.
With the mass start, the “home game weeks” in Oberhof and Ruhpolding also came to an end for the German biathletes. Next week the World Cup will take place in Antholz, Italy – at the Olympic dress rehearsal sprint, pursuit and another mass start will take place on Thursday.
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