Six different athletes stepped on the podium in Ruhpolding, as Sebastian Samuelsson and Johannes Dale-Skjevdal won in the sprint and the pursuit respectively. Still, Tommaso Giacomel holds the overall lead thanks to two top five finishes. All Things Snow recaps what happened in the fifth event of the 2025/26 men’s Biathlon World Cup.

By Daniele Spadi

The biathlon family stayed in Germany for a second straight week, as the action moved from the physically challenging course of Oberhof to the iconic Bavarian valley of Ruhpolding. With three competitions scheduled – the men’s relay, and yet another sprint-pursuit combination – it promised to be an exciting, yet tough weekend, and so it was.

The men’s programme got underway on Thursday with the 4 x 7.5km relay, which had been a happy hunting ground for Norway up until this weekend, as they won all three relays this season.

Ruhpolding had other plans, however. The opening leg was – rather surprisingly – won by Italy’s Patrick Braunhofer, while France hit the penalty loop once with Fabien Claude, though he only lost 26.5s to the leading pack.

The middle stages of the race saw Sweden rise to the top thanks to Martin Ponsiluoma’s excellent performance, as he gained 30 seconds on the leaders to give his nation the lead at the third exchange. Norway and France were right behind them, however, with Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen and Éric Perrot chasing Sebastian Samuelsson for the win. Germany was also in the mix with Philipp Nawrath.

Once more, it all came down to the final shoot, and it was Perrot who cleared all five targets to gain a crucial eight-second lead. He nursed that gap all the way to the end, as France broke their streak of three consecutive second-place finishes to clinch their maiden relay victory of the season.

Norway had to settle for second, while the home heroes came third, the local fans’ support propelling them to the podium. Sweden settled for fourth, while Estonia recorded their best-ever finish in the event as they came in fifth, missing just four targets across the entire race.

Two days later, athletes hit the course for the fifth sprint of the season, and all eyes were on Tommaso Giacomel. The overall and sprint cup leader had won the past three races, and wore the yellow and red bib for the very first time in his young career.

Despite the pressure, he did not disappoint. Though he missed one target in the prone shoot – a feat that hardly helps in Ruhpolding, where clean shoots are more frequent than in other venues – he recovered with a clean and fast standing shooting performance. He was also the second-fastest man on the skiing course.

The only one who stood up to his reign was Samuelsson. The Swede is having his most consistent season ever, though he was still looking for his maiden victory of the season. That changed on Saturday: he produced a clean shooting performance as well as the fastest skiing time – a combination that could only mean first place. With his eighth individual World Cup win, Samuelsson became the Swedish man with the most victories in biathlon history.

Giacomel therefore settled for second, 17.6s behind. Third was Isak Leknes Frey, who was finally able to clinch the maiden individual podium of his young career. The Norwegian beat Quentin Fillon Maillet in the race for third, as the Frenchman shot clean but struggled on the skis.

Fifth was Perrot, a single miss in the prone shoot proving fatal for his podium hopes. Sturla Holm Lægreid was seventh on his return to the World Cup, while Dale’s 10th place meant that Norway had three athletes in the top 10, despite Johan-Olav Botn’s absence due to illness.

Dale’s day came 24 hours later, however. The 28-year-old, who had taken 21 World Cup individual podiums but just three victories, went on a tear in the pursuit. Starting 53.5s off the lead, he cleared all 10 targets in the prone, vaulting to fourth just 6.3s behind Samuelsson.

Despite a miss in the third shooting session, a clear final shoot meant he exited the range in second, seven seconds behind Perrot, who had taken the lead after shooting three. Dale then turned on the afterburners, quickly catching up to the Frenchman and flying past him in the downhill section of the course.

Dale raced to the finish line to take the fourth win of his career after a near-perfect performance. Curiously, this marks his second pursuit victory in Ruhpolding, after achieving the same feat two years ago. Perrot settled for second, continuing his great run of form and confirming his status as one of the favourites for the overall cup.

The fight for third involved plenty of athletes. Initially, Giacomel cleared Christiansen in emphatic fashion, and the podium looked to be his despite a total of five misses. However, he was caught and overtaken on the final stretch by both Ponsiluoma, who was down in 13th at the start of the final lap, and France’s Fabien Claude. The Swede ultimately took third, while the latter came in fourth after starting all the way down in 37th thanks to a spirited performance, especially on the skiing course.

Giacomel had to settle for fifth, and though his streak of consecutive podium finishes stopped at four, he still brought home valuable points in the fight for the overall globe. Sprint winner Samuelsson couldn’t do better than sixth, as he held on to the last spot on the flower ceremony by just 1.5 seconds over Christiansen. The entire top 10 was covered by just 17.7 seconds, showing how competitive and close the race was – as it often happens in Ruhpolding.

With four events to go, the shortlist of athletes fighting for the overall globe seems to include four names. Giacomel stays at the top with 736 points, with Perrot still 82 points behind after the both of them took a second and a fifth-place finish in Germany. Samuelsson is 96 points adrift, and now sits in third after the sprint win.

Also in the fight is Botn, who is now fourth with 560 points. After holding on to the yellow bib in the first nine races, however, the Norwegian has not raced since the mass start in Le Grand-Bornand after falling ill at the tail end of the French event.

Botn, together with the rest of the athletes, is scheduled to return to competition next week in Nové Město na Moravě, the last event before the Olympic Games. In the Czech Republic, the Biathlon World Cup will conclude its grueling triple-header with a short individual and a mass start, while also holding the single mixed relay and the standard mixed relay.

Header image credit: Christian Heilwagen / IBU