Last IBU Cup this weekend in Martell. A new event, the 60 person mass start.
From the IBU website:
Mass Start 60
The competition, just presented at the 2018 IBU Congress, is not just an exciting one, but can become a good option for lower level event series such as the IBU Cup and IBU Junior Cup that have big fields. The new format's test will be held on the final day, 17 March, for 60 athletes, where the top 10 of the IBU Cup Total Score will be qualified directly and the 50 remaining spots will be field in according to the results of the previous day's sprint competition . The cup scoring points go only to the IBU Cup Total Score.
As in the traditional mass start, the men will cover the distance of 15 km (6x2.5km), while a course length for the women will be 12 km (6x2km). IBU Sports Director Felix Bitterling explained how the competition will be conducted. “60 athletes will start simultaneously; after the first loop, bibs 31-60 go into the range for their first shooting, while bibs 1-30 go out on the track for another loop without shooting. After this, the procedure is vice versa: bibs 31-60 will proceed to the course without shooting, while bibs 1-30 will have their first prone. After these two groups conducted their first shooting, the competition will be organized as in a pursuit.”
I am on the fence with this one. I would love to see the live stream on this one, but I doubt it would be shown.