German men race to biathlon relay gold in Italy

After successive third place finishes in Pokljuka and Ruhpolding, the German quartet of Erik Lesser, Benedikt Doll, Arnd Peiffer and Simon Schempp carried them to victory by just 0.1s over Norway.

Russia finished third, 33.6s behind the Germans who wiped out their 4x7.5km relay World Cup lead, moving level on points with the previous table toppers.

Both nations now have 156 points, with Norway now in third place on 146.

But it could have been more for the Norwegians had Emil Hegle Svendsen not surrendered the lead he held over the Germans going into the final leg.

After three men each had completed their legs Norway were leading Germany by 17.7 seconds, but a storming last leg from Schempp , which saw him with just one miss to Svendsen's two, clinched the victory by the narrowest of margins.

Ukraine came home in fourth, 46.7s behind Germany, with Austria a further 2.5s off the pace.

The men's World Cup action continues on Sunday with the 15km mass start, with the race being the last opportunity for the biathletes to test themselves ahead of next month's World Championships in Austria.