France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet continued to dominate pursuits, hitting every shot until his last one but going wire-to-wire to the Kontiolahti men’s 12.5 km pursuit in 32:55, giving the French star his sixth pursuit win of the season. Germany’s Erik Lesser shot clean in a season best second place, 8.2 seconds back. Today’s podium was the first for the German since a third place also in Kontiolahti in November 2020. Italy’s Lukas Hofer after a last loop battle with Lesser finished third, also a season best, 9.5 seconds back with one penalty.

Emilien Jacquelin of France, with two penalties, faded in the last loop to finish fourth, 22.6 seconds back. Norwegian teammates Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen and Sturla Holm Laegreid, with zero and two penalties finished fifth and sixth, 31.9 and 51.1 seconds back, respectively.

Fillon Maillet, protecting the lead

Conditions remained good for the men’s pursuit, the final competition of the weekend in Kontiolahti. Fillon Maillet in Yellow and Red started aggressively protecting his lead. Filip Fjeld Andersen held second into the first prone stage, with a huge pack just 10 second behind him. Five perfect shots, lead secured and Fillon Maillet was gone. Jacquelin cleaned very fast going out second with the also clean Andersen in third, 18 and 23 seconds back. Kuehn, Hofer and Lesser followed 30-40 seconds back.

Jacquelin Closes the Gap

Jacquelin was as aggressive as his teammate in the next loop, closing the gap to less than 10 seconds by the second prone stage. Both quickly cleaned again; Jacquelin lost some time setting up on the mat but still got away just 7 seconds back. Many of the chasers missed shots but Lesser cleaned for the second time, moving to third, but 42 seconds back. Christiansen and Leitner, also clean moved into fourth and fifth, 46 and 50 seconds back.

Fillon Maillet goes to 15-for-15

Fillon Maillet was hunted down by his teammate over the next 2.5 km, with Jacquelin on his shoulder into the first standing. Both shot very fast, but the Yellow Bib went to 15-for-15 while his rival missed a shot, falling 19 seconds back. Hofer after a second prone miss, came back with a clean standing stage, going into third position but 51 seconds back, just ahead of Christiansen and Lesser at 52 and 59 seconds out of the podium spot.

The leader added to his gap on the seemingly tiring Jacquelin as they came to the final standing stage, upping it to 31 seconds. Fillon Maillet looked like he would hit all twenty shots until he shot wide right on the last one. Jacquelin again was lightening fast but missed his second shot, ceding 25 seconds to Fillon Maillet. Hofer, Christiansen and Lesser all cleaned, heading into the last loop at 32, 42 and 37 seconds back, setting up what looked like a battle for the last place on the podium.

Lesser Sprints to Second

Fillon Maillet had the win securely in hand, coming to the finish waving a mini French flag. However, Jacquelin continued to tire with the Hofer-led chasers catching him. Coming up the Wall, Hofer and Lesser both passed Jacquelin very fast. The duo battled in the last 700 meters with the German veteran going a half meter lead. As they sprinted down the last 50 meters, Hofer’s ski pole seemed to slip, giving Lesser the final advantage and second place.

Photos; IBU/Christian Manzoni