January 05, 2014 (Oberhof, GER) – The USA’s Tim Burke drove home a strong 9th place result in the men’s 15km Mass Start as France’s Martin Fourcade persevered in difficult rainy conditions on tough tracks to take the victory suffering one penalty with a time of 37:39.4

Only 5.2 seconds back in second was Alexey Volkov of Russia, one of only two men who shot clean. Norwegian Tarjei Boe nabbed third at 19s behind with two penalties.

Tim Burke places a strong 9th... © Nordic Focus

With an abundance of overnight rain, the track in Oberhof was less than desirable but Burke put in a good day at the office despite a crash in final leg that cost him some places. The lone North American on the start line today he upped his game in the second half – after suffering two penalties in prone as he cleaned all targets in both standing sessions to finish 31.3s behind Fourcade.

“I’m happy with how things went in the Mass Start today. After two penalties in prone, I had to really push my limits to stay in the chase before standing shooting,” told SkiTrax after the competition.

Cracking the top ten was a good signal of Burke’s form a month before the Games in Sochi. The Paul Smiths, NY skier finished 3rd on the podium earlier this season in Oestersund, Sweden.

“In standing, I was able to follow through with the things that I have been working on in training, so I am definitely happy about that. Unfortunately, I was hitting a big rock on the last loop and taking a big fall that cost me some places.

“It happened in a really bad place because I lost all of my speed heading into one of the big climbs and that really gassed me. Overall, I am happy with my skiing and I feel that I am where I want to be with Sochi coming up in a month,” he concluded.

Martin Fourcade (FRA)...all smiles © Nordic Focus

Fourcade felt some redemption after finishing third on the first two days of racing and to finally take a win in Oberhof with the first mass start race of the season. “I was not happy about my last shooting yesterday and found the power inside to win and I am happy,” he told biathlonworld.com. “This was the only WC venue where I had never won before, so I am quite happy…I do not like this kind of weather or snow but they did a great job with what came out of the sky.”

The E.ON IBU World Cup moves to Ruhpolding, Germany for Round 5 with the Women’s 4×6 km Relay on January 8th, 2014.

Full results here.