Exactly four years after her second victory in the Biathlon World Cup, the Italian Lisa Vittozzi reached her third triumph after winning the 15km individual start in Ruhpolding (Germany). The Italian’s previous two successes were again on German soil, but at Oberhof, where in January 2019 she won back-to-back sprint and pursuit.
The Italian came to success today with a perfect shooting and the third-best time on the course, which, however, was enough for her to win. Second, exactly 39 seconds behind Lisa Vittozzi, was Lou Jeanmonnot (France), who also knocked down all 20 targets but was slower in her cross-country skiing.
The third was Julia Simon (France), who was faster than Lisa Vittozzi, but missed a shot on her last visit to the finish line, costing her the chance to win. The Frenchwoman finished 45.2 seconds behind the winner.
Finishing fourth, 1:09.7 behind Lisa Vittozzi, was her teammate Dorothea Wierer, who, like Julia Simon, was perfect in her first three shoots but missed one in her fourth. Sisters Hanna and Elvira Oeberg of Sweden finished fifth and sixth, both finishing with a one-minute penalty after fouling in their second shoots. PyeongChang 2018 Olympic champion Hanna Oeberg was 1:10.9 min behind Lisa Vittozzi, while her younger sister was 1:20.5 min.
In the general ranking for the World Cup, Julia Simon remains in the lead with 666 points, Elvira Oeberg is second with 615 points, and today’s winner Lisa Vittozzi closes the top three with 463 points. With her victory today, the Italian moved up six places in the overall standings.
In the battle for the small crystal globe in the individual discipline, Lisa Vittozzi leads after two of three races with 150 points, second with 135 is Hanna Oeberg, and third with 111 is Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (Norway), who finished seventh today after dropping her last shot. The fight in the individual discipline will be decided on March 9 in Oestersund (Sweden).
The women’s program of the World Cup in Ruhpolding continues on Saturday with the women’s relay will be held at 4x6km. On Sunday will be held the 12.5km mass start.