Strong third and anchor legs by Alexander Loginov and Maxim Tsvetkov secured a 1:11:06.1 Russian victory in the Ruhpolding men’s 4 X 7.5 km relay this afternoon. Loginov and Tsvetkov and their teammates Said Karimulla Khalili, and Daniil Serokhostov used just four spare rounds in their win. Germany, with two spares finished second. Belarus with six spares finished third, 23 seconds back.

Italy with five spare rounds finished fourth, 53.7 seconds back. Fifth went to France with a penalty and ten spare rounds, 1:15 back. Ukraine, with six spares, finished sixth, 1:44.9 back.

Twenty-four teams, sunshine and windless day

One more sunny, almost spring-like day today for the twenty-four teams that started the men’s relay: +5C on the thermometer, brilliant sunshine on the mountain peaks and as expected another almost windless day on the Chiemgau Arena shooting range. Erik Lesser led the field out of the first prone after a quick clean stage with the next six teams also 5-for-5. After a spare round in prone, Thomas Bormolini cleaned standing first to take the lead, just a second ahead of Russia’s Said Karimulla Khalili, Sean Doherty of the USA and Lesser, now five seconds back.

Windisch in Front

Doherty held the slight gap on Khalili through the first exchange, but Bormolini tagged in second just ahead of the Russian with Belarus next, all within a second. France after penalty and four spares by Fabien Claude languished back in 14th, while Norway was at the back of the pack, 2:36 out. Lazouski brought Belarus to the front with a clean prone stage, with Dominik Windisch keeping Italy second despite a spare round. Russia and Germany trailed at 17 seconds back with Jacquelin bringing France closer in 8th position, 22.7 seconds back. The Italian and Belarusian shot side-by-side in standing, but Windisch downed his five targets quickly, taking the lead over Jacquelin who was up to third before a quick clean standing stage that put France second 12.5 seconds back just a half second in front of Belarus, heading to the second exchange.

Loginov Holds Top Spot; Varabei Battles

Windisch’s strong last loop kept Italy in the top spot, tagging Hofer 7.8 seconds ahead of the trio of Jacquelin, Dmytro Pidruchnyi, Russia’s Serokhostov and Lazouski at the exchange. Loginov immediately took over the lead with the other three teams each a stride behind. Loginov and Maksim Varabei cleaned prone first and were gone, with Ukraine’s Bogdan Tsymbal two seconds back. France fell to 25.6 seconds back as first-timer Eric Perrot slot slowly and used two spares before cleaning. The two leaders both used spares but again Loginov got away a second faster, with Ukraine a dozen seconds back in third and Germany 22 seconds back after Benedikt Doll’s 10-for-10 day at the range.

Russia and Belarus

Loginov was unable to shake his Belarusian rival, tagging Tsvetkov .2 seconds in front of Smolski. Doll’s strong last loop moved Germany into third, 29 seconds back when he tagged Philipp Nawrath, with Ukraine another 16 seconds in arears. The Russian cleaned in five shots, while Smolski was slower and used a spare, falling 18.5 seconds back. Nawrath cleaned quickly, remaining third but now just 7.3 seconds behind Smolski.

Germany Moves Up to Second

Tsvetkov was all alone in standing, closing three targets before Smolski and Nawrath hit their mats. Two more shots down sealed the win for Russia. The German and Belarusian went shot-for-shot until Smolski missed his fourth shot and the German cleaned in five, leaving in second position, up by seven second on the Belarusian. Russia held on for the win, with Germany pulling away in second from third place Belarus.

First relay podium for Germany

Lesser and second leg Roman Rees praised their team’s great work that brought the German men their first relay podium of the season. Lesser, “My leg was not the best. I struggled a bit in the last lap. We are happy to be on the podium. We all did a great job on the shooting range; did just two extra. We hit our biggest goal to beat the Swedish guys today.” Rees concurred, “We all did a great job on the range today. We only needed two spares. It could not have been better…Second place and our first podium of the season is a great end.”

Sweden/Norway Crossfire Explanation

As a result of a crossfire situation involving Sweden and Norway early in the competition, Norway’s final results were adjusted, moving them to seventh place, as explained by IBU World Cup Race Director Borut Nunar in the following video.