Do Summer Victories Translate into Winter Success?

Strong, confident Vittozzi

Lisa Vittozzi’s impressed with her win at Wiesbaden City Biathlon, cleaning the standing stages and leaving the elite field floundering in her wake, over a minute back. Her 27-minute performance reconfirmed last winter’s comeback was no fluke. The Italian looked strong and confident, despite coming directly off a hard training camp week. Her fast, accurate shooting and power on the basically flat track say one thing: a good winter season looms with Vittozzi going after the big Crystal Globe.

Laegreid’s Improved Standing Shooting

Sturla Holm Laegreid was as impressive in Wiesbaden as Vittozzi. Always outstanding on the range, Laegreid added a new twist to his accuracy, speed. He cleaned each of the standing stages in an amazingly fast 15 seconds, leaving with a 45-second bulge on the field. Although he skied the last loop easily savoring the win, Laegreid was equally impressive on the tracks. His impressive standing demonstration reflected his summer focus, “ If there is one place I can improve, it is standing. I have been working on that.” Shooting clean and cutting several second puts the 26-year-old that much closer to JT Boe.

Laegreid feels no pressure in summer competitions seeing them as training, “It is a nice experience if you are first or last. Compared to the winter where everything counts, and determines if you race the next week or go to World Champs. This is like a bonus. You get experience with pressure shooting and can test your skiing technique and shape on the tracks.” Laegreid passed the tests, another good winter awaits.

Sharpshooting Voigt and Kebinger

Two German women were impressive in the summer “show competitions,” Hanna Kebinger and Vanessa Voigt. Kebinger won the Blinkfestivalen mass start, after finishing third in the super sprint while Voigt, second in that competition topped Julia Simon, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Dorothea Wierer and Vittozzi in a stunning MFNF victory. Both Kebinger and Voigt are sharpshooters, 88% and 91% last season, and were propelled to victory with brilliant standing stages. Of course, neither would have won if not for solid track performances. Voigt was unquestionably strong on the flat Annecy track, dueling much of the way with the speedy IBU Gala Mass Start Champion Marketa Davidova. She admitted that before the competition she “was a bit afraid” after seeing the start list, but decided “to just do my thing and see how it turned out.”

“I think we saw what is possible”

These teammates both seem to be heading to a good winter. Success at Blink and the MFNF mean little when the BMW IBU World Cup starts but are good confidence builders. Voigt is due for a breakthrough; ski speed has limited her to solid performances but a single podium so far. The MFNF win is a good step forward. Kebinger had 4th, 7th, and 8th place individual finishes in 16 BMW IBU World Cup starts last season, also winning IBU Silver Relay in Oberhof. Her description of that medal reflects the 2019 IBU Junior Cup Total Score winner’s potential. “I think we saw what is possible.”

Jeanmonnot's Big Victories

Lou Jeanmonnot possibly raised her profile the most during “rollerski season.” The 24-year-old, 11th in the World Cup Total Score last season was impressively consistent, finishing third, 4.2 seconds behind Kebinger in the Blink super sprint, fourth in the mass start and third behind Vittozzi at City Biathlon. A last minute entry in the MFNF cross country race at her coach’s urging, Jeanmonnot raced through multiple elimination rounds, always near the front until sprinting to victory. Culminating a two-week altitude camp, she admitted, “…everything seems to be working well. So, this was good preparation for what is to come!”