Grand-Bornand Biathlon 2026: Schedule, Tickets and Shuttles

Schedule: six races in four days

Grand-Bornand: the World Cup village

Tickets from €16 to €220 Races 10 to 13 December 0.3°C average (model) December 2026

The Sylvie Becaert stadium is temporary and sits in the heart of the village. The event runs from 7 to 13 December 2026, but the official races only start on Thursday 10. The tourist office expects up to 67,000 spectators over the week, according to its World Cup page. The Haute-Savoie Department also announces Olympic and Paralympic events in 2030, without saying they will be held at the biathlon stadium.

Highlights

• Six races: two sprints, two pursuits and two mass starts
• A compact stadium where most of the stands can see the shooting range and the key passages
• A pedestrian village during the event, with an official shop and a laser shooting range

Pixidia tip: for a first time, go for the sprint. It’s the shortest format, the cheapest in the track zone and the easiest to follow if you’re new to biathlon.

If you’re sleeping in Annecy, the tour leaves at 10:30 am. It doesn’t run on 13 December. On Saturday, the women’s pursuit starts at 12:15 pm, and we haven’t checked how long the tour lasts: leave yourself some slack, or pick the sprint.

Annecy Traditional Food Tour, a food tour of Annecy €99 per adult, departing 10:30 am on 10, 11 and 12 December (checked on 24 October 2026, 2 adults) · ★ 4.9 (352 reviews on Viator and TripAdvisor)

Book my Annecy food tour

Source: official organiser’s ticketing page, checked on 24 October 2026. The programme can be changed by the IBU.

The days from 7 to 9 December are for training and set-up, with no published programme. According to the tourist office’s highlights page, event hours are 9 am to 6 pm on Thursday and Friday, then 8 am to 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Individual stand hours still need to be confirmed.

Choosing the day matters more than choosing your seat. The sprints on Thursday 10 (women) and Friday 11 (men) each involve one sex only, at 2:15 pm. Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 bring both sexes together: women’s pursuit at 12:15 pm, then men’s at 2:45 pm, and the mass starts at the same times. Saturday or Sunday is enough to see both the women’s and the men’s races.

Tickets: what’s still on sale on 24 October

One sales opening on 5 October, and some categories already sold out

Sprint: €21 to €44 Pursuit: €31 to €72 On sale: 5 October 2026 No phone sales

All tickets, day and 4-day pass, went on sale the same day, at 10 am, on the official shop and at the tourist office counter. Track-zone and grandstand tickets are standing or unnumbered. Refunds are only possible if the organiser cancels the event.

• A grandstand ticket doesn’t open the track zone, and vice versa
• The 4-day pass is a single ticket valid on all four race days, not one ticket per day
• Apart from the 4-day pass, one ticket covers one person for one day
• Children under 5 get in free, but still need a ticket

Pixidia tip: the status changes from one day to the next. Check the status of the race you want on the day you buy, because the men’s sprint was no longer available in the grandstand as of 24 October.

The mixed pass, two days in the grandstand and two days in the track zone, is sold by the central booking office Grand-Bornand Réservation for €153 adult and €106 child, according to its ticket page. VIP offers go through another provider, with no published price.

The same booking office also offers an accommodation-and-tickets package, presented as guaranteeing tickets even when the official shop shows sold out. This is a commercial offer: we haven’t verified its content beyond the presentation page, checked on 24 October 2026.

For groups, prices are detailed in the budget section, with their caveats.

Source: official organiser’s ticketing page, checked on 24 October 2026. Prices are per person; the status changes until the race.

Getting to the stadium from Annecy

Special shuttle, scheduled bus or train: three options

Shuttle: €3 return Booking required 2026 timetable not published Buses Y62 and Y63 year-round

The special shuttle is the only option built for the event. It leaves from Annecy, Thônes, Saint-Pierre-en-Faucigny and Glières-Val-de-Borne, by reservation only. For scheduled buses, lines Y62 and Y63 link Annecy to the Grand-Bornand all year round. The winter 2025-2026 timetables expired on 19 April 2026, and those for 2026-2027 haven’t been published yet. The 2025 fare quoted is around €8.60, to be reconfirmed on altibus.com.

The train runs on the Léman Express to Saint-Pierre-en-Faucigny. Proxim’iTi lines 460 and 461 then take you on to the Grand-Bornand from the bus station. A single-trip ticket costs €1.70 and is valid for 90 minutes; you buy it on board by bank card or through the Némo app. The 2026-2027 timetables haven’t been checked: the safest option is to call Proxim’iTi on 04 50 62 29 39 or check proximiti.fr.

Source: organiser’s ticketing page for the special shuttle; Annecy – Thônes – Le Grand-Bornand bus line and lines 460 and 461; checked on 24 October 2026.

Parking is regulated around the stadium. The rink car park is close to the stadium and served by the skibus, the Espace Grand-Bo has 53 regulated spaces, and the La Source car park is free according to its listing, with a shuttle stop nearby. No 2026 price has been published. We found no official rule on car access on race days: don’t promise your passengers anything before checking it on the tourist office site.

If you arrive via Geneva, the Aravis Shuttle runs in winter from 12 December 2026 to 10 April 2027, every day from 6 am to 10 pm according to the regional listing. It leaves from La Clusaz bus station, not the Grand-Bornand: check the full route before booking. For the airport transfer, see our article on the Annecy to Geneva Airport bus.

On site: the village, accessible places and events outside the stadium

The exhibitors’ village takes over the Place de l’Église, which is pedestrian-only during the event. Small food stands only accept bank cards and contactless payment, according to press coverage of the previous edition, so plan for that payment method.

The village sits at about 940 m above sea level, according to the village tourist office listing. Arrive early if you want a spot in the track zone, as spectators gather along the course from the moment it opens.

An accessible zone (PMR) is located alongside the course and around the stadium. It is charged at the track-zone rate, with limited places handled in order of request. The request form was marked full on 24 October 2026. Access conditions for wheelchairs and slopes are not published: write to the organiser before buying a ticket.

Outside the stadium, the hamlet of Chinaillon, at about 1,300 m, opens for guided visits from Saturday 19 December 2026, according to the tourist office listing (date to be confirmed with the office). These events are not part of the sports programme, but they give you something to do if you’re staying several days. Skiing isn’t included in the biathlon ticket and needs a separate lift pass.

Understanding the races in a few minutes

Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. The rules below come from specialist press and educational pages. For the official detail, see the competition formats published by the IBU.

• Sprint: two shooting bouts, prone then standing. Each missed target adds a 150 m penalty loop. The sprint ranking sets the start order for the pursuit.
• Pursuit: the top 60 from the sprint take part. Four shooting bouts, two prone and two standing, with a 150 m penalty loop for each missed target.
• Mass start: a group start of the 30 best athletes, with four shooting bouts, two prone and two standing.
• Individual: not scheduled at the Grand-Bornand in 2026, according to the calendars we checked.

To follow a race at the stadium, watch the scoreboard of hit targets and the time of each penalty loop. The programme can still be changed by the IBU: check the timetable the day before, not an older announcement.

Snow and weather: what the data says, and what we don’t know

No reliable forecast exists six weeks out from the event. Model data for 2015-2025 gives an order of magnitude for the valley, not a forecast for the races.

Source: Open-Meteo, ERA5 model archive, calculated 24 October 2026. These values are model outputs, not station measurements.

Snowfall totals were very low in December 2015, 2022 and 2025. The races take place on a temporary stadium whose snow is partly artificial, and past editions have used transported artificial snow, a topic debated in the press.

The resort announces an opening from 12 December 2026 to 11 April 2027, « subject to snow conditions ». Don’t promise spectators skiing: the event takes place in the village, not on the ski area.

If you’re driving, winter tyres or snow chains may be compulsory from 1 November 2026 to 31 March 2027. Haute-Savoie is one of the mountain departments concerned, with communes set by prefectoral order and marked by signs B58 and B59. This point comes from specialist sites, Mon Séjour en Montagne, and not from an official source we checked: confirm with the prefecture before you leave. The sources we consulted don’t give any penalty amounts.

Budget and visitor profiles

Your budget depends first on the zone and race you choose. The table below only includes prices published by the organiser or the tourist office. No reliable accommodation rate for December 2026 has been published, so we don’t price it.

Source: organiser’s ticketing page, Annecy – Le Grand-Bornand bus line listing, checked on 24 October 2026.

Families

Child fares depend on age and zone. In the track zone, a child aged 5 to 11 pays €16 for a sprint and €21 for a pursuit or mass start. In the grandstand, the child rate applies to children born in 2015 or later. Under-5s get in free, but still need a ticket. The sprint is the shortest and the easiest format to follow with kids.

On a tight budget

A sprint in the track zone costs €21 per person, plus €3 return for the special shuttle if you leave from Annecy. The scheduled bus costs about €8.60 in 2025, to be reconfirmed. If the budget is tight, skip the 4-day pass and keep to a single track-zone race.

Groups

Group tickets are offered in the track zone only, for groups of 15 people or more aged 12 and over, on a purchase order. The organiser’s rate is €19 on sprint days and €28 for pursuit or mass start. Another page we checked lists a different group rate, with no date or confirmation from the organiser: ask for the rate in force before budgeting a group outing.

What other guides don’t tell you

Two dated comparisons, drawn from the organiser’s pages checked on 24 October 2026 and from press coverage of previous editions.

• Shuttles are no longer free. Press coverage of the 2025 edition mentioned free shuttles from Annecy. In 2026, the special shuttle costs €3 return, with mandatory booking. Le Dauphiné Libéré, 14 December 2025; organiser’s ticketing page (checked on 24 October 2026).
• The dates have changed from one edition to the next. The press announced 16 to 22 December 2024, then 15 to 21 December 2025; the 2026 edition runs 10 to 13 December. An older text will therefore give days that no longer match. Reporterre, 2024; Snow Industry News, 2025.

Practical info for your stay

• Shuttle from Annecy: book before you leave, with a stadium access ticket (organiser’s ticketing page).
• 4-day pass: sold out as of 24 October 2026. Check the status of the race you want the day before, not just on the day you buy.
• 2026 shuttle timetables and 2026-2027 bus timetables: not published as of 24 October 2026, to be reconfirmed with altibus.com and Proxim’iTi.
• Winter driving: winter tyres or chains may be compulsory depending on the commune (see the snow and weather section).