He is the top favorite among men: Johannes Thingnes Bø. © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO

Biathlon madness in Antholz: The best for last

After the two individual races on Thursday and Friday and the relay competitions on Saturday, the Biathlon World Cup in the Antholz South Tyrol Arena will conclude on Sunday with the men's and women's mass starts.

21 January 2024

From: pm

The best biathletes in the world will kick off with the 12.30 km mass start at 15 p.m. The big favorite is Johannes Thingnes Bø. The Norwegian superstar feels right at home in Antholz and has already won the singles with a sensational performance on Thursday. Bø also leads the discipline rankings: The Scandinavian won the only mass start of the season in Lenzerheide a month ago, and he also wants to be at the top again in Antholz.

We are also excited about Bø's teammates, the Norwegians Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, Tarjei Bø and Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen. Swede Martin Ponsiluoma could also fight for the podium. Lukas Hofer from Montal is currently only on the reserve list, but could still move up. The “Azzurri” are instead relying on Tommaso Giacomel, who is in top form and could cause a surprise. A second Italian, Didier Bionaz, is also at the start.

Tommaso Giacomel is Italy's great hope. © ANSA / ANDREA SOLERO

Women's start at 14.45:XNUMX p.m

For the women, the mass start over 12,5 km begins at 14.45:42 p.m. with two prone and two standing stages. The starting position here is extremely exciting. The first mass start of the season went to the French Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, but she didn't show a good race on Friday and only finished XNUMXnd. It will be interesting to see whether the Swiss individual winner Lena Häcki-Groß can confirm herself. She celebrated her first ever World Cup victory on Friday.

Of course, you can always expect the usual names like Julia Simon from France, the Norwegian overall World Cup leader Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, the “Azzurra” Lisa Vittozzi, Elvira Öberg from Sweden and Franzi Preuss from Germany. The big absentee will be Dorothea Wierer: She decided not to start in the mass start.