December 12, 2010 (Hochfilzen, Austria) – Norway claimed yet another victory coming from behind to take the men’s 4×7.5km relay as heavy snow and gusty winds made for difficult conditions both on the trails and on the range. Austria had to settle for second at home almost a minute behind the winners while France was able to grab third thanks to a strong final leg by Martin Fourcade who shot clean.

The Canadian team of Brendan Green, Nathan Smith, Scott Perras and Jean Philippe Le Guellec placed 16th at 5:50.9 behind Norway with four penalties and 18 extra rounds, while the USA team of Lowell Bailey, Tim Burke, Leif Nordgren and Jeremy Teela struggled as well in the difficult conditions just over a minute behind the Canucks with 5 penalties and 19 extra rounds.

Norway took over on the second leg with veteran Ole Einar Björndalen shooting clean and the team never looked back as others like the Ukraine, Russia, Slovenia faded as the race went on. Austria’s Christoph Sumann was also perfect on the shooting range giving his team the push into second place before the final leg.

In an IBU World Cup report Belarusian coach Klaus Siebert described the conditions as, “Very tough with the constantly changing wind. One minute it’s perfect for shooting and the next it’s not.”

France was in a battle for third with Slovenia near the end but Peter Dokl shot poorly and his team fell back to finish 8th while France’s Fourcade was brilliant to claim the final podium spot ahead of Germany in 4th and Sweden in 5th.

The Norwegian team of Alexander Os, Björndalen, Emil Hegle Svendsen and Tarjei Boe could not be denied with only one penalty and seven spare rounds as Norway earned its sixth victory this season. “That is pretty awesome,” said Boe post race. “Everyone in our team is smiling. It is good that the whole team feels like they are winning together.”

Full results HERE.