The German Franziska Preuss won the pursuit (10 km) of Grand-Bornand counting for the Biathlon World Cup on Saturday, ahead of the French Julia Simon and another German Vanessa Voigt. Starting on the skis of Frenchwoman Justine Braisaz-Bouchet after her second place in the sprint on Friday, Preuss was imperial on the shooting range, making only one mistake on the first standing shot. She was around thirty seconds ahead of Julia Simon, who started from seventh place on Saturday with around forty seconds behind the Braisaz-Bouchet/Preuss duo. With 13/20 behind the rifle, “JBB” fell back to 12th place in the pursuit, a minute and a half behind the winner of the day.
Double reigning world champion in the specialty, Julia Simon may regret her two mistakes on the second prone shot, but is building up confidence in view of the mass start on Sunday (2:45 p.m.). Third place went to Vanessa Voigt, who achieved a 20/20 on the shooting range. Starting from 12th place, Jeanne Richard came close to her first World Cup podium at 22, taking fourth place six seconds behind Voigt, penalized by her error on the second standing shot.
Preuss flies to the top of the general ranking of the World Cup with 153 points over the Swede Elvira Oeberg (490 against 337) and 165 over the Frenchwoman Lou Jeanmonnot.
