The third stage of the IBU World Cup Biathlon — Annecy-Le Grand Bornard (FRA) — celebrated the great talent of Lisa Vittozzi.

The 22-year-old from Sappada, in fact, was the undisputed protagonist of the Azzurri team in France, where she kicked off by taking 4th place in the Sprint race — also enhancing her performance with a perfect shooting — then securing the second individual medal of her young career in the following Pursuit event, where she claimed the Bronze medal, only missing one target in the four shooting sessions and finishing 31.8 seconds behind the winner, Germany's Laura Dahlmeier.

The Bronze medal won in Annecy-Le Grand Bornard, her second medal this season after the Silver pocketed with the Italian mixed relay in Östersund (SWE), rockets Lisa up to the 5th place in the general standings.

"I could feel my legs were a bit tired, so I focus my performance on the shooting — said the member of the Fiocchi Team at the end of the race — I knew that if I didn't shoot well I couldn't compete for the podium, so I zeroed in, gave my best, and now I'm extremely happy with this Bronze. It's a further step in the right direction, towards the Winter Olympic Games."

In the men's Pusuit race, Italy's Lukas Hofer started with bib 40, climbing up more than 30 positions and finishing in 7th place, while in the two Mass Start races Dorothea Wierer and Dominik Windisch respectively placed ninth and seventh.

The IBU World Cup will resume in Germany in 2018, as two competitions will take place in the span of twelve days: in Oberhof (GER), from the 2nd to the 7th of January, and in Ruhpolding (GER), from the 9th to the 14th.

Enrico Beda, Marco Vettoretti