In the men's mass start, three leaders after thethird shooting changed into two groups of three fighting for the victory on the final lap. The fast second group with Johannes Thingnes Bø, Julian Eberhard and Martin Fourcade (FRA) quickly caught up with the leading trio and after an attack by the Norwegian, three athletes escaped with Bø, Eberhard and Fillon Maillet, who went together on the home stretch. Bø took his next victory in front of the Austrian, the Frenchman didn't see any chance in the final sprint and finished third. With today's victory, the Norwegian made his Ruhpolding hat-trick clear, but in the meantime he would have been happy with a podium finish. "I felt quite focused and confident before the race today and had a good feeling for the 19 first shots. Then made a mistake together with the others and then the race was totally open. Of course then, I was thinking about making the podium, not the win. You have to try; it is great to have this hat trick here in Ruhpolding…the less the margin, the better the win.", said the triple winner. His brother Tarjei Bø (NOR, Fischer skis, bindings and boots) finished tenth this time.
In the women's mass start, there was a thrilling duel on the final lap between Franziska Preuss and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, who had both never won a race before and shot perfect today. First, the German was ahead after the fourth shooting, then the Norwegian closed the small gap and went past her in the uphill. In the end, however, Preuss again joined the stadium as the leader, cheered by 24,000 enthusiastic fans who shoouted her to victory. After the race, she told completely overwhelmed: "That's an awesome feeling, to be on top on my home tracks. Finally I shot zero, that's cool. On the last lap, I first tried to ski full speed, because I did not know who was behind me. Then I looked at the screen and saw that it was Ingrid. I thought I was happy with second place as she overtook me at the hill, but then I wanted to fight and at the home straight I saw no more skis behind me." Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold narrowly missed her first win. Third place went to Paulina Fialkova in front of Hanna Öberg (SWE, Fischer skis, bindings and boots) and Lena Häcki (SUI, Fischer skis, bindings and boots), who could repeat her fifth place finish from Nove Mesto. Irina Kryuko (BLR, Fischer skis, bindings and boots) finished sixth followed by Linn Persson (SWE, Fischer skis and bindings).
