The winners of the first three places closed all the targets in the firing lines, and the victory was won by the Frenchman Eric Perot, who reached the finish line after 36 minutes and 30.6 seconds. He was followed by compatriot Emilien Jaquelin in second place, 41.8 seconds behind, while Italy’s Lucas Hofer lost 54.1 seconds to complete the top three.
Birkenthal made one mistake in the first two firing lines, but closed all the targets in the next two and was two minutes and 31.9 seconds behind the winner at the finish. By finishing ninth, he tied his career-best finish to date.
Mise made one mistake in the first prone shoot, missed three targets in the standing shoot, and missed one and two more in the next two firing lines, losing to the winner by seven minutes and 47.6 seconds at the finish.
On the other hand, Patrijuks made one mistake in the first shooting and made four mistakes in the second. He then missed three more targets in the second shooting while lying down and missed twice standing up in the final firing line, finishing behind Perot by 11 minutes and 8.5 seconds.
Andrejs Rastorgujev is not competing at this stage in order to prepare for the Milan and Cortina Olympic Games.
Italian Tommaso Giacomel holds the first place in the World Cup standings with 767 points, while Pero is second with 744 points. Birkenthal’s 97 points gives him 35th place, while Rastorgujev ranks 48th with 57 points.
The sixth stage of the World Cup will continue on Friday with the shortened distance of 12.5 kilometers for women, mixed pairs and mixed team relays will be held on Saturday, and the competition with a joint start will be held on Sunday.
There are nine stages in the World Cup competition this season. After the stage in Nove Mesto from February 8 to 21, the biathletes will compete in the Olympic Games in Italy, and in March three more stages of the World Cup will be held in Kontiolahti, Otepä and Holmenkollen.
Baiba Bendika, Estere Wolfa, Sanita Buliņa, Annie Keita Sabule, Andrejs Rastorgujevs, Renārs Birkentāls, Rihards Lozbers and Edgars Mise will compete in the Olympic Games.
