Two Swiss in the top 10 of a biathlon World Cup race is rather rare. This is the performance achieved by Niklas Hartweg and Joscha Burkhalter during the individual race, contested over 20 km, which opened the competition weekend in Ruhpolding. In Germany, Niklas Hartweg first of all confirmed his great form at the start of 2025. The Zurich resident took a brilliant 4th place after committing a mistake on the third shot which cost him a third career podium since he would have finished 2nd without this error which cost him a minute of penalty. The fact remains that the box no longer seems very far away for the solid Swiss biathlete who ranks in the top 8 for the third race in a row, while putting aside 4th place during the mixed relay last Sunday.
In his wake, Joscha Burkhalter (1 fault) also achieved his best result of the season. Better still, the Bernese, who was upside down at the start of winter, has finally found the right vein to take 10th place. thus equaling his best performance in the World Cup. He had not been so well classified for three years and a sprint in… Ruhpolding. A good omen a few weeks before the World Championships in Lenzerheide.
And to complete the very good Swiss record, Sebastian Stalder finished 23rd in a race which was won by the Norwegian Vebjørn Sørum who took his first victory on the circuit. The Scandinavian beat the Frenchman Emilien Claude and the Latvian Andrejs Rastorgujevs. Jeremy Finello (5 faults) finished 60th and James Pacal (2 faults) 75th.
Star Johannes Thingnes Bø, who completely missed his point, probably wanted to give up after a supersonic shot, but he was motivated to finish (finally 85th) by the Frenchman Émilien Jacquelin in a rather unusual scene.
JT
Swiss
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