It looks unbeatable.
After winning the sprint last Thursday, Quentin Fillon Maillet won easily in the pursuit of Ruhpolding (Germany) ahead of Russian Aleksandr Loginov and Belarusian Anton Smolski.
Despite a fault during the first shooting session which earned him a penalty round, the Frenchman had a very good race, without ever really being worried.
As proof, he came up 10 seconds behind the German Benedikt Doll, during the third lap.
On the shooting range, the leader of the Biathlon World Cup put pressure on the German and had a good shooting session, while his competitor was less precise with his rifle (2 pickaxes).
With 4 straight victories in pursuit, he equals Martin Fourcade
With this victory, "QFM" shows that he is indeed the master of the specialty, and that he deserves his red bib: this is his fourth consecutive victory in pursuit after those of Oberhof (Germany), Grand-Bornand and Hochfilzen (Austria).
A performance that had not been achieved since Martin Fourcade.
He also takes off in the general classification with 97 points ahead of his runner-up, the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson.
MAGISTRAL 🇫🇷🇫🇷@quentinfillon wins the Pursuit of Ruhpolding!🤩
Our tricolor signs its 3rd victory in a row and consolidates its yellow leader bib 👏🏼👏🏼@simondstx is 4️⃣🇫🇷
📸 Nordic Focus pic.twitter.com/Ry86HT4Zt2
— FFS - French Ski Federation (@FedFranceSki) January 16, 2022
"I'm really happy with this victory today and to do justice to this jersey", explained Quentin Fillon Maillet to the team's microphone after the race.
The French also announced his presence in Antholz (Italy) at the end of January: “There are slightly different strategies compared to other teams.
I don't particularly fear the altitude.
And above all, I really appreciate the track and the shooting range at Antholz,” he explained.
Simon Desthieux fourth, Jacquelin loses second place overall
Frenchman Simon Desthieux finished fourth in this pursuit, after a well-run race (18/20 shooting).
For his part, Émilien Jacquelin lost his second place in the general classification of the World Cup in favor of Sebastian Samuelsson.
Starting 53rd and despite two faults on the lying shot, he finished in 20th place in this pursuit.