Quentin Fillon-Maillet has once once more shown that he was the king of the pursuit at the start of the season. Impressive with the red bib of the leader of the World Cup specialty on his back, the Frenchman, who started in 9th position, caught up with all his competitors to win in Oberhof, Germany, this Sunday. He beat the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson and the Norwegian Tarjei Boe. In the fight for the podium before the last shot, Émilien Jacquelin finally took 17th place and gave up the overall leader’s yellow bib to the winner of the day.
The race seemed for a long time to be promised to Alexandr Loginov, who started at the forefront following his victory in the sprint on Friday. Imperial on skis, the Russian went it alone for a long time in the lead, before completely collapsing during the last standing shot, with three faults, to finally finish 4th. In ambush behind him in a peloton of five biathletes, Fillon-Maillet was the fastest to achieve the 5/5 and flew to victory. It is the 9th victory of his career in the World Cup, the third this season following the pursuits of Hochfilzen (Austria) and Grand Bornand.
Jacquelin in pain
Fillon-Maillet had been exempted, like Jacquelin, from the mixed relay the day before, to concentrate on the race of the day. A choice that paid off for him, but not for his teammate, who struggled on the skis throughout the day (with the 32nd time entered) and made four fatal shooting faults. Jacquelin therefore logically abandons the lead of the World Cup to his compatriot, who was behind him in the standings before the race.
Fabien Claude and Simon Desthieux, the other two Frenchmen entered, took 7th and 19th place. The next stage of the World Cup will take place in Ruhpolding, also in Germany, from January 13 to 16.