Giacomel won the sprint for the first time in his career, but at the start of the fighter he will only have a four-second advantage over Frenchman Erik Perrot. World Cup leader Johan-Olav Botn will start fourth, just nine seconds short of first place.
After one penalty lap, Hornig recorded the same result in the sprint as at the first stop of the World Cup in Östersund, but did not enter the chaser there when the trainers withdrew him due to cold symptoms.
In Hochfilzen, the 26-year-old biathlete should also be encouraged by his partner and daughter Rozárka, who was born to them in March this year. “I should also meet them, which will be a welcome change for my head,” he recounted pro biatlon.cz. Last year he finished 26th in the Austrian center in a fighter, now he would like to improve his result.
With the number 40, Mikuláš Karlík will start one minute and 19 seconds after Giacomel, who just extended his number of points races to three. In the sprint, he flashed the eighth fastest running time in the last lap, thanks to which, even with three shooting errors, he got ahead of Michal Krčmář, who completed one penalty lap less.
The most experienced of the Czech biathletes will start right after Karlík, as a group of five competitors formed between the 39th and 43rd places within two seconds.
The women will not run their pursuit race until Sunday, first the relay awaits them on Saturday from 2:15 p.m.
