Tsvetkov takes advantage as Fourcade falters

Fourcade struggled from the off in the men's 15km mass start, incurring two penalties at the first range and one at the second to fall out of contention – ending his run of finishing in the top three in 20 races out of 20 this season by coming 19th.

In front of a home crowd, Russian Tsvetkov suffered no such trouble however, shooting clean and eventually crossing the line in 37:37.3 minutes, edging out second-placed Erlend Bjoentegaard by 2.7 seconds for a maiden triumph at the highest level.

Fourcade's nearest challenger this season has been Johannes Thingnes Boe and the Norwegian finished third on the day.

There was good news for the Frenchman though as his 19th-place finish was enough to seal top spot in the season-long mass start World Cup standings, completing a clean sweep across all disciplines, including the overall World Cup title.

Sportsbeat 2018