Norway's Lægreid is on a high after winning four gold medals at last month’s IBU World Championships, including victories in the 20-kilometre individual and 15km mass start competitions.

Fellow countryman Bø picked up golds in the men’s and mixed team relays but failed to top the podium in the four individual races in Pokljuka in Slovenia.

Bø leads the World Cup standings on 871 points with three stages to go but Lægreid, who sits on 839, will be determined to reduce the 32-point gap.

Johannes Dale is another Norwegian athlete expected to be in the mix as he aims to consolidate his position in the top three.

Tiril Eckhoff, a quadruple gold medallist in Pokljuka, will hope to move closer to clinching the women’s overall title.

The 30-year-old Norwegian tops the overall leaderboard on 803 points but struggled at the last World Cup stage in Antholz-Anterselva in Italy, finishing outside the podium places in the 15km individual and 12.5km mass start contests.

Eckhoff did not take long to put those performances behind her in Slovenia, clinching four golds, one silver and one bronze at the World Championships.

Hanna Öberg of Sweden is Eckhoff’s closest challenger for the World Cup title, trailing by 38 points in the standings.

Norway’s Marte Olsbu Røiseland is six points further back in third position on 759.

Competition starts tomorrow with the women’s 4x6km relay.

This is set to be followed by the men’s 4x7.5km relay a day later, before the men’s and women’s sprint and pursuit events are due to take place on March 6 and 7 respectively.

Nové Město na Moravě is also due to host the penultimate stage of the season from March 11 to 14.