Lena Haecki-Gross and Sturla Laegreid victorious in Oslo mass starts

Lena Haecki-Gross and Sturla Holm Laegreid took victory in the mass start in Oslo as tricky conditions wreaked havoc in the Biathlon World Cup.

Laegreid had taken his first World Cup win of the season in Friday’s individual and backed that up as he missed just once across the four shoots to make it two in a row.

Coming into the final shoot, Tarjei Boe and Benedikt Doll looked set to battle it out for the victory, but three misses for the former and two for the latter proved costly.

Doll did hang tough to take second spot ahead of Jesper Nelin, who claimed the first podium of his career.

Boe eventually came home in seventh, although that did close the gap on younger brother Johannes Thingnes Boe, who endured a tough time on the range, missing six targets in all as he finished back in 14th.

The younger Boe stays top of the overall standings on 878 points, 59 clear of his brother while it is all to play for in the race for the mass start crystal globe where Johannes Dale-Skjevdal is eight points clear of Vetla Sjaastad Christiansen.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Haecki-Gross missed just two targets to take her second win of the season.

The Swiss athlete finished 16.8 seconds clear of Julia Simon, with another Frenchwoman, Lou Jeanmonnot, winning the sprint for bronze.

Overall World Cup leader Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold had to settle for fourth after her victory in Friday’s individual, but stretched her lead at the top of the standings as nearest rival Justine Braisaz-Bouchet had a tough time missing five targets on her way to 11th.

Tandrevold now leads the overall standings by 93 points from Lisa Vittozzi, who moved up to second, with Simon third four points further back and Braisaz-Bouchet another seven behind with five events remaining.

Simon’s second place takes her into top spot in the mass start rankings with one more event to come.