Norway’s Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen, as he did last week in Oestersund, anchored his team to a dominating win in this afternoon’s Hochfilzen Men’s 4 X 7.5 km Relay. Third leg Sturla Holm Laegreid took the lead from France, pulling to a 53-second margin over their rivals while Christiansen sealed the 1:11:54.8 win with 10-for-10 shooting. Christiansen, Laegreid and teammates Johannes Dale-Skjevdal and Johan-Olav Botn only used three spares to claim their second relay win of the new season.

France with eight spares finished second, 43.1 seconds back. Sweden, mired in 20th place after the first leg, battled their way back on the backs of third leg Martin Ponsiluoma and anchor Sebastian Samuelsson to finish third, with nine spares, 1:05,7 back.

The USA, with seven spares finished fourth, 1:14.5 back. Germany, with a penalty and eleven spares finished fifth, 1:20 back, while Italy with a penalty and eight spares finished sixth, 2:57.4 back.

Photos: IBU/Walter, Nordic Focus