At the first stop of the IBU Junior Cup 2024/25 in Ridnaun - Val Ridanna, the athletes competed in exciting duels in perfect winter conditions. The teams from Germany, France and Italy were particularly impressive.

The first race of the season was the longest. The juniors opened the season with the women's 12.5-kilometre and men's 15-kilometre individual races and four shootings. In the women's event, Charlotte Gallbronner celebrated her first victory in the IBU Junior Cup and thus her best result of her career to date. She managed to beat her teammate Alina Nussbicker into second place without missing a shot. The 20-year-old missed one target in the third shooting. Third place went to Ukraine's Iryna Shevchenko, who also hit all the targets but finished 50 seconds behind the winner. Amandine Mengin (4th place) from France, Astrid Plosch (5th place) from Italy and Lou-Anne Dupont Ballet Baz (6th place), also from France, also secured a place at the ceremony.

Victory in the men's event also went to Germany. Linus Kesper shot one penalty minute, but was 22 seconds faster on the track than second-placed Ian Martinet from France, who also missed a target. Third place went to Davide Compagnoni from Italy. This race was a special success for the Italian team. Four skiers from the “home team” finished in the top 10, including Compagnoni, Felix Ratschiller (4th place), Michele Carolle (8th place) and Cesare Lozza (9th place).

Sprint victories for Germany and France

In the first sprint competition in Ridnaun - Val Ridanna, Violette Bony from France was the best. She hit all ten targets and relegated Ilaria Scattolo from Italy to second place by 13 seconds. Scattolo had to run a penalty loop after the second shooting. Amandine Mengin from France also had a penalty loop. She completed the podium. Estere Volfa from Latvia achieved the best result of her career. Despite two misses, she finished in fifth place.

Elias Seidl from Germany was unbeatable in the men's sprint race. With the fastest running time and only one start lap, he was 28 seconds faster than Italy's Davide Compagnoni, who also circled once. Leo Carlier from France finished two seconds behind him. He made no mistakes at the shooting range. His teammate Lionel Jouannaud just missed the podium by one second.

Surprise in the women's sprint on Sunday: podium finish for Latvia

Sunday was also dominated by the sprint races. Carlotta Gautero was delighted with her victory in the women's sprint. The 18-year-old improved considerably compared to the two previous races in Ridnaun, where her best result was 29th place. In the second sprint, she only had to go into the penalty loop once and impressed on the course. It was also the first podium finish of the season for Lena Siegmund from Germany. She hit the target with all ten shots. Estere Volfa achieved something historic in third place. She took the first podium place for her country, Latvia, in a Junior Cup.

The first Junior Cup of the season came to a golden conclusion for the Czech team. David Elias won the sprint race with a lead of 4.8 seconds over Poland's Grzegorz Galica. Both had to run a penalty loop, as did third-placed Guillaume Poirot from France.

From December 18, the juniors will continue at the IBU Junior Cup in Goms (Switzerland). This is the first time that biathlon competitions have been held at the Nordic Center in Goms. Then the mixed relay, single mixed relay, sprint and mass start 60 are on the program.

Photos: IBU I Deubert