Younger of the two Boe brothers had to give his all for today’s win. France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet challenged him in the very last meters of the race but still ended as the second (+0.1) after the photo-finish. Alexander Loginov repeated his result from the Sprint with the bronze (+1.9). Austria’s Simon Eder claimed the fourth place, his compatriot Julian Eberhard fifth and another Norwegian Tarjei Boe sixth.
The Sprint winner T. J. Boe started the race with a nice advantage earned in the Friday’s race. With fast skiing he even increased the gap but got himself into trouble with three penalty loops. He was still very happy with the outcome: “I had a good race before the last shooting and then I invited two others to the sprint finish. It was not something I would plan, but this is biathlon and you can only plan to the next shooting. After the last shooting I had a new tactic and it is nice that I succeeded.”
Fillon Maillet did an excellent job and dropped all the targets, and suddenly he was fighting for the first place: “Before the race I just wanted to shoot clean and then to see in the last loop which place I can take. In the fourth loop my coaches told me that I can race for a second place but I didn’t want to listen, I just wanted to shoot clean for the fourth time, and only after that to think about the podium. I tried to take Johannes and it took a lot of effort. After Alexander’s fall on the last uphill I saw that I moved up to the second position. I gave it all but Johannes managed to finish a few centimeters ahead of me.”
Loginov was satisfied with Pokljuka’s week-end, despite the fall in the very last finish: “I lost concertation for a second and I put a pool in my boot, that’s why I fell. It was very unpleasant. I would like to apologize to Johannes as well. Overall it was a good first week for me and I’m happy with my results. I hope that I will keep the shape that I’m in right now, and I’m already looking forward to the rest of the season.”
