With one week of racing under our belts in trimester #2 we head to Ruhpolding for another week. It’s a bit of a relic of the Cold War that Germany continues to host two events every year as Oberhof (East Germany) and Ruhpolding (West Germany) were the respective stops of the Central European nation pre unification. But the result is that now, after what will go down as one of the most thrilling weekends of this biathlon season the field makes their shortest travel of the season, traveling from the unpredictability of Oberhof to the warm embraces of Ruhpolding.
Schedule:
– Wednesday January15: Men’s 20km Individual
– Thursday January 16: Women’s 15km Individual
– Friday January 17: Men’s 4×7.5km Relay
– Saturday January 18: Women’s 4x6km Relay
– Sunday January 19: Men’s 15km Mass Start + Women’s 12.5km Mass Start
Credit: Ruhpolding Tourismus GmbH
Course Overview:
– Stadium altitude: 710 meters
– Maximum altitude on course: 733 meters
– Lowest altitude on course: 701 meters
– Stadium capacity: 12,000 spectators
In general Ruhpolding is one of the favorite shooting venues for the athletes. There is a bit of a downhill towards the range and the range is rather protected from wind. The result is we often will see a bunch of clean shooting particularly in the Sprint races. In general this can lead to giving even more of a boost to the faster racers and less of an advantage for the better shooters since their strength gets neutralized.
Weather:
– Average Temperature for mid December: High 3C and Low -5C.
– In general it isn’t particularly sunny in January in Ruhpolding with rain/snow a little over 50% of the days.
– By and large not usually windy
Well, it could certainly be worse. Wednesday looks like there might be a little snow. As I am writing this the forecast mentions anywhere from 3-7 cm of accumulation during the day and maybe another 2 cm that night. Depending on the particular intensity during the men’s Individual that could have an effect during the race. Heavier snowfall during a particular portion of the race negatively affecting the skiing and shooting of those athletes obviously.
The rest of the week (at least as of today) it looks like it’s going to be sunny but warming throughout the week. At least it looks like it is going to get below freezing at night. The tracks could get a little sloppy by the Mass Starts on Sunday though with highs potentially reaching up to 7-8C (45 degrees Fahrenheit).
Thankfully the breeze never looks to get more than 5-10km per hour and considering how the range is protected. Last week in Oberhof we saw the French nail the wax in the gross weather of the women’s Sprint. Could that lead to the exceptionally strong French women’s team packing the top 10 in the Mass Start?
News and Notes:
1)🇳🇴 Norway Rolls with 8 – The Norwegian federation made the interesting decision to bring an eight man group to Ruhpolding as they called up Johannes Dale-Skjevdal without sending anybody down or sitting anybody for the weekend. Johannes Dale-Skjevdal has done everything you could ask him to do on the IBU Cup and more. Since getting sent down he’s won four of the five races he’s competed in and his other finish was 3rd. The ultimate call is that Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen will not race the Individual as they can still only start six men. Assuming he still remains qualified for the Mass Start, which is a safe bet, he will line up for that race. Dale-Skjevdal meanwhile will need to be top 5 in the Individual of the men who aren’t already qualified for the Mass Start. That could very well happen so there is a real chance the Norwegian men have eight qualified to race the Mass Start which is…something.
2) 🇳🇴 Norway Continued – Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold had a safe and successful return to racing in Oberhof as she finished 15th in both races. Normally you wouldn’t think too much about those races for her but considering Tandrevold was coming off of the cardiac ablation during the same weekend of the racing in Annecy-le Grand Bornand this was an unquestionable success. Now she is taking this week off to head to Antholz. This has multiple reasons:
-She missed her altitude training during her recovery so it allows her to get some good work in
-She doesn’t really have a great history competing at altitude so this helps her get acclimated to Antholz high venue and gets her body ready for Worlds in Lenzerheide
-It unofficially kicks off her 2026 training. The focus now is on finding form again this season but even more importantly setting up a good springboard for the all important 2026 Olympic campaign. Not only is she getting an altitude training in but she is doing it at the 2026 Olympic venue.
3) 🇩🇪 Germany is making a few changes for the week.
– On the women’s side Stefanie Scherer joins the squad for the week as Julia Kink gets a week to rest. Vanessa Voigt is on the roster now but she’s clearly still hurting from her illness that started back in Annecy. The plan for now is that if she looks like she could still use some recover time she will sit and Marlene Fichtner will take her spot. (Update as of Tuesday afternoon Voigt will race!)
– On the men’s side Roman Rees and David Zobel arrive in Ruhpolding with the team while Philipp Horn and Simon Kaiser have a break. For Horn he is going to take the day off for the Individual to work on shooting. The plan is to have him back for the Mass Start assuming he is still qualified. He is currently ranked 22nd and just 20 points up on Hofer in 25th. He probably hangs on though. Simon Kaiser will head back to the IBU Cup where he currently ranks 10th in the Overall. Roman Rees has 10 consecutive IBU Cup top 10’s including a podium and he’s earned the opportunity to try to reclaim his spot.
4) 🇮🇹 Italy gets some good news as Hannah Auchentaller returns after missing last week due to illness. That will certainly be good as she has been having a very good season with the three best finishes of her career including her best of 9th in the Annecy Sprint. Rebecca Passler also returns for her first World Cup action of the year. She started off the season on the back foot but has been building form. She had the second podium of her IBU Cup career last week in Arber with a 3rd in the first Sprint of the week. Also, for the men, Daniele Cappellari comes after encouraging IBU Cup finishes including a 6th and 10th in Arber.
5) Illness and Injury:
– 🇨🇿 Marketa Davidova will remain out as she continues to seek treatment for her herniated disc in her back. She’s aiming for Worlds but every week she is out makes that more difficult.
– 🇳🇴 Martin Uldal will miss the Individual as he continues to suffer from a stomach illness. You could see its effect as he fell from 5th to 30th in the Pursuit in Oberhof. Hopefully he’s back for the Mass Start!
– 🇸🇪 Sara Andersson sadly will miss another weekend after getting sick before Oberhof.
– As mentioned above 🇩🇪 Vanessa Voigt is still struggling to recover from her illness at the end of the first trimester. She is listed as starting the Individual but if it is deemed that rest would help her more then Marlene Fichtner gets the start. (Update as of Tuesday afternoon Voigt will race!)
Recent History
Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen (NOR) – IBU World Cup Biathlon, relay men, Ruhpolding (GER). http://www.biathlonworld.com © Svoboda/IBU.
Women’s Top 5 Finishers Last 5 Competitions
– Does not include retired or ineligible athletes
| Athletes | Finishes |
| Hanna Oeberg 🇸🇪 | 🥇🥈🥉🥉, 4, 5 |
| Lisa Vittozzi (Injured) 🇮🇹 | 🥇🥇🥈🥈🥉 |
| Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold 🇳🇴 | 🥇🥈🥈 |
| Elvira Oeberg 🇸🇪 | 🥇🥈, 5 |
| Paulina Batovska Fialkova 🇸🇰 | 🥈🥉, 5 |
| Lou Jeanmonnot 🇫🇷 | 🥈, 4, 4 |
| Dorothea Wierer 🇮🇹 | 🥉🥉, 4 |
| Linn Gestblom (injury) 🇸🇪 | 4, 5, 5 |
| Julia Simon 🇫🇷 | 🥇🥉 |
| Lena Haecki-Gross 🇨🇭 | 5, 5 |
| Franziska Preuss 🇩🇪 | 🥇 |
| Anastasiya Kuzmina 🇸🇰 | 🥇 |
| Juni Arnekleiv 🇳🇴 | 🥉 |
| Vanessa Voigt 🇩🇪 | 5 |
| Justine Braisaz-Bouchet 🇫🇷 | 5 |
Hanna Oeberg had a great relay leg in the Mixed Relay on Sunday in Oberhof. If that was really a sign that she’s feeling better and ready to perform she Ruhpolding may just be exactly the place that she wants to see. Elvira with some good history here as well which is not what the rest of the field wants to see when she’s racing like she is right now!
Men’s Top 5 Finishers Last 5 Competitions
– Does not include retired or ineligible athletes
| Athlete | Finishes |
| Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen 🇳🇴 | 🥇🥈🥈🥈🥉, 4, 5 |
| Quentin Fillon Maillet 🇫🇷 | 🥇🥇🥈🥈🥉 |
| Johannes Thingnes Boe 🇳🇴 | 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥉 |
| Tarjei Boe 🇳🇴 | 🥈🥉, 4 |
| Emilien Jacquelin 🇫🇷 | 4, 4, 5 |
| Johannes Dale-Skjevdal 🇳🇴 | 🥇, 5 |
| Tommaso Giacomel 🇮🇹 | 🥈, 5 |
| Sturla Holm Laegreid 🇳🇴 | 🥉, 4 |
| Vytautus Strolia 🇱🇹 | 4, 5 |
| Jakov Fak 🇸🇮 | 🥉 |
| Justus Strelow 🇩🇪 | 5 |
| Tero Seppala 🇫🇮 | 5 |
Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen has been the best man in Ruhpolding over the last five competitions at this venue and he’s going to need to rely on that history to put up a big time performance in the Mass Start. This is really his last stand and it really feels like with what Johannes Dale-Skjevdal is doing on the IBU Cup that Christiansen needs a massive performance to hold his spot. Otherwise Quentin FIllon Maillet had his first win in three years last week and has great history here. JT Boe is getting healthier and may be ready to get back on top of the podium as well.
Recent Memorable Moments/Performances
Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen (NOR) – IBU World Cup Biathlon, sprint men, Ruhpolding (GER). http://www.biathlonworld.com © Svoboda/IBU.
2024 Men’s Races: Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen was given an extended winter break by his coaches in order to give Johan-Olav Botn a look on the World Cup. Christiansen publicly expressed his frustration with that decision. Then he came to Ruhpolding and showed his frustration by winning the Sprint and getting second in the Pursuit. That served as a springboard for him. After just one podium in the first trimester he went on to have six in the 2nd and 3rd trimester including two bronze medals at the Nove Mesto World Championships. He ended the season 5th in the Overall for his 3rd consecutive top 5 Overall finish.
The Pursuit, by the way, ended in a thrilling three man Norwegian sprint to the finish between Christiansen and Johannes Dale-Skjevdal and Johannes Thingnes Boe. They came off the range together, and after JT Boe wasn’t able to shake them loose it came down to a final Sprint. Dale-Skjevdal proved to be the strongest man while Christiansen finished 2nd and Boe went 3rd.
2023 Men’s Individual: While we all remember the massive Individual performance that JT Boe had at the World Championships, the win in Ruhpolding was quite impressive as well. While he shot 18/20 vs. Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen’s 19/20, JT Boe came out victorious by 9.9 seconds He ran 1:14 seconds faster on the course than Martin Ponsiluoma and 1:15 on Christiansen. Last year Christiansen was on tremendous form and ended the season ranked 3rd Overall and actually won the discipline globe for the Individual. It was one of our many hints that JT Boe was about to do something wild in Oberhof.
2023 Women’s Individual: It was a shooting clinic as we saw 10 total misses amongst the top 14 women in the race. At the very top was Lisa Vittozzi who put the capstone on her triumphant return to top level of women’s biathlon by going 20/20 while running the 3rd best course time. It was one of the most popular and cheered victories of the season. Right behind her was Lou Jeanmonnot, who scored the first podium of her career and announced her presence on the World Cup stage. We of course have seen her go on to really great things over the last year including back to back wins this season in Oestersund. Rounding out the podium was Julia Simon who was was her way to winning the Overall Globe.
2023 Women’s Mass Start: The hope with a Mass Start is that it comes down to at least two athletes going head to head on the last shooting and the last lap with a chance to win. That’s exactly what happened in this race as Lisa Vittozzi, coming off her first win in years in the Individual, and Julia Simon, leading the Overall, were leading going to the final shooting. Simon (20 seconds) shot fast but missed while Vittozzi shot slow (31 seconds) and went clean. The result was they were neck and neck going into the last lap. The problem was the opened the door for Anais Chevalier-Bouchet to catch them with clean and quick shooting! The final lap was a three woman race but ultimately Simon won the three woman final Sprint with Vittozzi in 2nd and Chevalier-Bouchet in 3rd.
2022 Women’s Sprint: What if I told you the following women went clean in a Sprint: Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, Dorothea Wierer, Dzinara Alimbekava, Lisa Hauser, Anais Bescond, and Linn Persson, while Justine Braisaz-Bouchet was 9/10? You would probably say that was a heck of a race. And it was! Except Elvira Oeberg went 10/10 and dusted the field by a solid 21 seconds on Roeiseland. It was Elvira’s 2nd win of the season and her 2nd in a row. She wasn’t quite strong enough to hold off Roeiseland in the Pursuit but it was still a top notch Sprint. It was Elvira Oeberg at her full powers.
Considerations
-French and Finns nailed the wax in the worst of the weather in Oberhof. If it’s sloppy for the Mass Start could the French women and Suvi Minkkinen be set for a big day?
-Elvira was so dang strong in Oberhof. Ruhpolding’s range could protect her shooting. With her ski strength right now she could be in for a big weekend.
-JT Bø has some very good history here including a couple of wins that fell just outside the five years we looked at. If he’s feeling stronger as he recovers I think he wins one of the two races.
-If JT Bø is a solid pick for one win then Laegreid can’t be ignored either. Excellent week in Oberhof and a win here could close the gap on Bø even further. Could make for a fun Overall race!
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