Italy’s Tommaso Giacomel demolished the standing stages with blazingly fast accurate shooting and opened up an insurmountable gap to win the Annecy Le Grand Bornand Men’s 15 km Mass Start in 33:35.1. Giacomel’s only penalty of the day, in the first prone stage, just a minor bump on his way to his second win of the season, just two days after a very disappointing four-penalty 24th in the Sprint here.

“My biggest biathlon dream”

The 25-year-old called coming to the finish waving the Italian flag in a stadium packed to capacity with French fans, “Unbelievable! Winning in Le Grand Bornand was my biggest biathlon dream and today I achieved it. It’s just unbelievable!”

“I felt quite unbeatable”

Without boasting, Giacomel knew this competition was going to be something special. “I have to say that today I felt quite unbeatable. From the start, I was feeling incredibly strong. The first miss in prone was my fault; it was not the wind or whatever factor from outside. It was just me. I am just proud how I managed the situation in standing. Shooting on lane one two times with a small gap before the others and knowing that the crowd is cheering for others, not me. That is unbelievable!”

Local hero Eric Perrot climbed back onto the podium in second place after fourth in the pursuit, shooting clean, 18.2 seconds back. Norway’s Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen, skiing a brilliant last loop, closed a 20-second gap on Germany’s Justus Strelow to finish third, 21.3 seconds back to Strelow’s 21.8 seconds back.

Strelow shot clean in fourth, the second-best result of his career. Yellow Bib Johan-Olav Botn had two penalties in fifth, 25.4 seconds back while teammate Johannes Dale-Skjevdal also with two penalties finished sixth, 36.7 seconds back.

Giacomel’s Prone Penalty

Windless conditions for the final 2025 competition found Perrot, Strelow and Sebastian Samuelsson cleaning the first prone with the top twelve within 15 seconds. Botn in Yellow and Giacomel with penalties, trailed by 24 seconds.

Samuelsson led the pack into the second prone stage, but Strelow cleaned fastest for the lead, with Perrot, Isak Frey and Samuelsson following within 5 seconds. Three others including Giacomel were within another 3 seconds of the leaders.

Giacomel moved into the lead group of six on the loop before the first standing stage. The Italian, Perrot, and Strelow all went to 15-for-15, leaving the chasers 24 seconds back. Christiansen and Botn lurked 30 seconds back after miscues.

Christiansen Charges to Third

The leader upped the pace on the next loop, leaving Perrot and Strelow 13 seconds back. Five quick shots gave the young star the victory. Perrot and Strelow matched but were hopelessly 17 and 22 seconds behind the speeding Italian. Christiansen left fourth, 20 seconds off the podium, charging through the last loop and passing the German near the finish for third place.

Photos: IBU/Mobuchon, Yevenko, Manzoni, Nordic Focus