The Norwegians Endre Stroemsheim, Sturla Laegreid, and the brothers Tarjei and Johannes Boe flew over the men’s relay (4×7.5 km) from Oberhof (Germany), counting for the Biathlon World Cup, ahead of Germany and the Italy, the French finishing far away.
This is the third Norwegian relay victory in as many races this winter, after successes in Östersund (Sweden) and Hochfilzen (Austria), in different compositions (only Tarjei and Johannes Boe participated in the three relays).
In the fog in the heart of the Thuringian Forest massif, the meadows, still green on Saturday, were tinged a little white with the snow that fell during the night.
Authors of a quintuple the day before during the pursuit, the Norwegians assumed their status as huge favorites of the race, taking the lead in the third relay, after having been tickled for a while by the Germans.
Johannes Boe finished the job with a 10 out of 10 behind the rifle. The Norwegians relegated the Germans to almost two minutes and the Italians to almost three minutes.
In contact with the Norwegians at the start of the race thanks to Fabien Claude’s perfect pass (a single pick on the standing shot), the French then gradually fell back, due to several missed passes on the shooting range.
It started with four picks and a penalty round for Éric Perrot on his standing shot, then five picks and two penalty rounds for Émilien Jacquelin on his prone shot and his standing shot.
Quentin Fillon-Maillet took the last stint in 7th position, three minutes from the lead and almost a minute and a half from the podium. He also drew (twice) and brought the French relay back to 7th place, four minutes from victory.
