Actually, it was a lonely race at the top for Johannes Thingnes Bø, which he made even more exciting with two penalties in the last shooting. "Before shooting, I knew I had a two-lap advantage and wanted to play it safe and hit at least four targets. But then I made two mistakes and went back on track with Loginov and Fillon Maillet," said the Norwegian.The Russian was in a promising position on the last small hill in front of the stadium, but when he attacked he stumbled over his own feet and lost the victory. Bø was the first to enter the stadium and almost forgot the win when he did not count on the Frenchman: "When Loginov crashed, I was ten meters ahead of Fillon Maillet and I thought that would be enough. But he then came with very big steps and it was very close", he said. Julian Eberhard (AUT, Fischer skis, bindings and boots) moved up to fifth after one miss ahead of Tarjei Bø (NOR, Fischer skis, bindings and boots).
Also Kaisa Mäkärainen skied with clean shootings to the next clear victory, even if she was not the fastest on the track this time - but that was not necessary to win with 41 seconds ahead of also faultless Dorothea Wierer (ITA). Paulina Fialkova was the third to make it to the podium for the first time in her life, which was also overdue after her significant performance leap last winter. Iryna Kryuko (BLR, Fischer skis and bindings) finished seventh, Franziska Preuss (GER, Fischer skis, bindings and boots) came in ninth in front of Evgenija Pavlova (RUS, Fischer skis and bindings).
