Mixed Relay provides a nail-biting battle, with the French coming out on top

A mechanical failure caused the favorite, France, to fall behind in the junior race. The home country was unable to make up for this and finished second in the day's results, behind the dominant Norwegians. In the battle for bronze, Poland was eight seconds faster than Germany.

In the elite category, it was Ukraine that opened the event. We would see the seven countries that would appear at the start in two blocks. The first block consisted of Ukraine, Luxembourg, and Estonia. It would look like this: the men first for 20 kilometers, then the women for the same distance, and then we would see who was fastest at the finish line.

From the first block, that would be Luxembourg. The margin over Ukraine was just under 1 minute and 30 seconds. Then it would be a matter of waiting for the first intermediate times from the second block, where the countries considered favorites would start. Switzerland opened for block two, with Stefan Küng, Mauro Schmid, and Jan Christen as a strong trio in the men's race.

Then it was time for home favorite France to roll off the starting podium, which it did with Rémi Cavagna, Bruno Arimiral, and Thibault Guernalec. Not long after their start, we suddenly saw Küng come to a standstill. Switzerland was again faced with a mechanical defect in the Mixed Relay, just as had been the case with Marlen Reusser at the World Championships in Rwanda.

Of the favorites, the Italians would ultimately be the fastest in the men's race by far. Filippo Ganna, Lorenzo Milesi, and Marco Frigo completed their 20 kilometers in 22 minutes and 14 seconds. That was a whopping 23 seconds faster than France and 41 seconds faster than the Swiss men.

This put pressure on the Italian women. Switzerland had perhaps the strongest team in the second part, with the brand-new world and European champion Marlen Reusser, who Jasmin Liechti and Noemi Rüegg assisted, but they had to make up a considerable deficit.

Juliette Labous, Cedrine Kerbaol, and Marion Borras got off to a flying start for France. From a 23-second deficit behind the Italians, the gap was only 14 seconds at the first intermediate point. This increased the pressure on Elena Cecchini, Vittoria Guazzini, and Federica Venturelli.

It wasn't going to work out for the Swiss. The women saw their deficit increase steadily and would even have to look over their shoulders for the battle for the medals. The Italian and French women would therefore fight it out for the gold.

The difference at the last intermediate point was even more minor: a mere second. Only the final climb remained. The French women reached the top after a total time of 47 minutes and 42 seconds. And the Italians... 47.49! France thus managed to live up to its role as favorite, but only just. Very close!