Laegreid’s clean final stage wins Kontiolahti mass start

Sturla Holm Laegreid won the men’s fifteen-kilometre mass start in Kontiolahti in 34:39.7 after cleaning all twenty targets. He arrived at the final standing stage alongside Eric Perrot, whose single miss handed the Norwegian the advantage and his first World Cup victory of the season.

Perrot finished second, 16.5 seconds behind, with Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen third at 26.1 after one penalty. Christiansen’s clean final stage lifted him onto the podium as the race unfolded under lights at the Finnish venue in the final trimester.

Norway placed four athletes among the leading six, with Johan-Olav Botn fourth and Martin Uldal sixth. Martin Ponsiluoma interrupted that group in fifth, while Laegreid extended his podium sequence to eight competitions.