Fourcade, the overall World Cup holder, had never triumphed in Pokljuka until yesterday’s sprint success, but he continued his strong start to the campaign by shooting clean on his way to a time of 30min 27.4sec in the men’s 12.5 kilometres competition.

Emil Hegle Svensen of Norway, who also failed to record a penalty on the shooting range, took silver as he was six seconds adrift of the dominant Frenchman.

Anton Shipulin, whose native country of Russia is still reeling from the damning evidence presented in the second McLaren Report, narrowly missed out on the silver medal and had to settle for bronze.

Fourcade has already opened up a commanding advantage at the summit of the overall standings as he now has 288 points, 95 more than nearest challenger Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway.

“It was a great fight against Anton,” said the Frenchman.

“When he chased me down, he asked me to help him.

“It was a good collaboration, as Emil was not that far behind.

“This was a really great competition - everyone had the same conditions, equal chances.”

Germany’s Dahlmeier managed to claim victory in the women’s pursuit race, held over the slightly shorter distance of 10km, despite amassing two penalties as she added to her sprint triumph on the opening day in the Slovenian resort.

The double world champion finished in 27:31.2, 24.2 seconds quicker than Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen.

The Czech Republic’s Eva Puskarcikova clinched her first-ever World Cup podium, crossing the line a further 0.9 seconds adrift.

The result ensures Dahlmeier maintains the yellow bib, worn by the overall World Cup leader, as she sits at the summit of the rankings on 277 points.

Mäkäräinen is second on 208 and third place is occupied by Justine Braisaz of France, who has 189.

“I thought to myself, stay calm and concentrated,” said Dahlmeier.

“It’s amazing to win one race after another and I am very happy about it.”

The event concludes tomorrow with the relay races.