Fourcade to the fore again as Frenchman wins Ruhpolding sprint

Frenchman Martin Fourcade’s dominance of men’s biathlon continued as he took the 10km sprint crown in Ruhpolding – extending his lead in the World Cup standings.

The 28-year-old shot clear and stopped the clock in 22:34.2 for the 10km, to finish 18s ahead of closest rival Julian Eberhard, with Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen a further 21.7s behind.

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Fourcade now leads the overall World Cup standings on 670 points, 260 ahead of Germany’s Simon Schempp, with Russia’s Anton Shipulin 13 behind points back in third.

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In the sprint standings Fourcade once again reigns supreme, with his total of 274 points a massive 72 ahead of Norway’s Svendsen, with Eberhard in third on 186.

The win was Fourcade’s ninth from 12 individual races this season, ensuring he strengthens his grasp on the overall lead and increases his chances of winning the crown for a sixth straight year.

Martin Fourcade lors du sprint de Ruhpolding

Image credit: AFP

A double Olympic champion, Fourcade has also won five consecutive sprint World Cup titles, and showed no sign of letting go of the red jersey with another dominant performance.

The first four skiers shot clear rounds, with Schempp, in fifth, the only man in the top seven to suffer a penalty.

But he recovered to finish just one second behind Arnd Peiffer, of Germany, who was 12.1s off the podium.

The World Cup action continues on Sunday with the 12.5km pursuit, also in Ruhpolding.

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