February 04, 2011 (Presque Isle, Maine) – Arnd Peiffer of Germany dominated the men’s 10km sprint this morning by shooting clean and skiing to a 25:28 victory over Martin Fourcade of France. Fourcade had one standing penalty that left him 15.9 seconds behind his German rival. Third went to Ivan Tcherezov of Russia, who also shot clean, but finished 36.6 seconds back.

First Win Since January 2010
Tarjei Boe (NOR) and Tcherezov were early starters and in the lead group until Fourcade at number 47 and Peiffer at number 54 started. It was easily discernable that these two would be battling for the lead after both shot clean in prone and were well ahead of the field. Fourcade had his chance to win the competition when he came to standing first. However he missed one shot and although skiing well, could only win if Peiffer who was skiing at about the same speed missed a standing shot.

That was not to be as Peiffer shot clean very fast and left the stadium with a 22.4-second bulge over Fourcade. Although Peiffer slowed a bit over the final loop, he crossed the finish line with his first victory since the Antholz sprint in January 2010. He was well aware of the battle for first place with Fourcade. “I knew that I had to hit every single shot; it was great pressure but it came out okay.”

Early in the season, the German men were struggling, but the recent success of Michael Greis and now Peiffer shows that the team is on the upswing. He commented, “We had two people in the top eight today – Christoph Stephan was 7th. We have a good relay after winning in Antholz and Oberhof. I think we are a better team than last year.”

Today was the fourth time that the Olympic silver medalist Fourcade finished in second place this season. “It is okay now, because I won in Antholz.”

Tcherezov is the top Russian man at this stage of the season. Like many of the athletes, he has struggled a bit with the long trip to Presque Isle, yet made the podium. “I am very pleased with my results. But my body says I should be sleeping, but I had to be out on the tracks today.”

US and Canadian athletes were well off the mark set by Peiffer, although several shot well, while being considerably slower on the tracks. Lowell Bailey of Lake Placid, NY finished 25th, with a single standing penalty, 1:49.9 back. Bailey was among a large group of men who shot clean in prone today, as the light breeze offered little challenge in that stage.

However, he missed a standing shot and then slowed down in the final loop. His teammate Jay Hakkinen of Kasilof, Alaska shot clean today but finished 28th, 1:57.8 back. That was Hakkinen’s best result this season and his best in over a year. He missed the early part of this season after a battle with mono in the fall. He missed a good amount of training in the late fall, but now is getting into better shape.

Canadian Brendan Green was the top Canuck in 34th place. Like Hakkinen, he shot clean, but was 2:11.9 back at the finish. Jean Philippe Le Guellec continued to struggle as he missed two prone shots but cleaned standing today. He finished 40th, 2:14.4 back, with teammate Nathan Smith, with one penalty, in 43rd, 2:20.4 back. All of the Canadian and US competitors except 70th place Zach Hall qualified for Sunday’s pursuit competitions

Fourth went to the Yellow/Red Bib-wearing Tarjei Boe of Norway, with one penalty, 45.9 seconds back. He finished 7.3 seconds ahead of Carl Johan Bergman of Sweden, who also had one penalty. Markus Windisch of Italy, also shooting clean finished in a personal best sixth place, 1:04 back.

Full results HERE.