The battle for victory quickly narrowed down to Norway and France, already by the end of the opening leg. Fabien Claude and Johannes Dale set an aggressive pace, gaining around 20 seconds on their final lap over the closest rivals. That blistering tempo was maintained by Johan-Olav Botn and Emilien Jacquelin — with the Frenchman actually dictating the speed.
By the halfway point of the race, Italy — running in third — was already more than a minute behind. Germany might have stayed closer to the leaders, but a penalty loop by David Zobel on the opening leg put them on the back foot early.
The decisive moment came on the third leg, where Quentin Fillon Maillet lost his duel to Sturla Laegreid. It wasn’t just about shooting — two misses for the Frenchman against one for the Norwegian — but above all about skiing speed. Fillon Maillet lost a massive 53 seconds on his leg.
Behind them, the gap to the leaders was no smaller, but the fight for third place was wide open. Sweden and Germany worked their way back from early trouble, while the USA and Czech Republic managed to hang on. Sweden and the USA could rely on big names like Sebastian Samuelsson and Campbell Wright, while Germany — and especially the Czech team — lacked such headline athletes.
On the final leg, Eric Perrot had little choice but to hope for mistakes from Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen — but there were none. The Norwegian delivered a flawless performance, avoiding the three penalty loops that could have opened the door.
The most dramatic moment came in the battle for third. After prone shooting, both the Swede and the American struggled and had to chase the German, who left the range 15 seconds ahead. At the final standing shoot, however, the Swede was the sharpest. Campbell Wright and Justus Strelow faltered, losing 10 seconds, and were unable to close the gap on the final lap.
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