Norway's Dale outshone compatriots Johannes Thingnes Bø and Tarjei Bø to claim gold - and give the national selectors something to think about, having recently been omitted from the relay team.

Dale was a clear winner with a clean shooting record in the men's 10 kilometres sprint, finishing in a time of 23min 32.5sec.

France's Quentin Fillon Maillet had a return to form and came second, matching his best sprint performance on the World Cup circuit.

Fillon Maillet also had a clean shooting record, finishing 17.1sec behind Dale, and was joined on the podium by compatriot Fabien Claude.

Favourite Johannes Thingnes Bø seemed to struggle slightly in the skiing section, but remained on track to make the podium until a late miss put him on the back foot, and Bø could not catch up with Claude.

Coming fourth represents the first time this season that Bø has not finished on the podium.

His older brother Tarjei missed two of his last five targets, dropping down to 11th.

In the women's 7.5km sprint earlier in the day, Belarus' Alimbekava won her first World Cup race thanks to a clean shooting record.

With eight of the top 10 requiring at least one penalty lap, the 24-year-old capitalised, finishing with a winning time of 20:12.3.

Norway's Tiril Eckhoff took her first sprint medal of the season, but a penalty lap on the first round of shooting saw her finish 8.5sec off the lead to earn silver.

Eckhoff was second in the overall IBU World Cup standings last season.

Franziska Preuß of Germany made the podium for the first time this season, despite having had to serve a penalty lap on her second round of shooting, and was 9.9 behind the winner.

Norway's Marte Olsbu Røiseland and the Czech Republic's Markéta Davidová also served a penalty lap each and rounded off the top five.

The fastest skier on the day was Julia Simon of France, but two missed targets spoiled her chances.

Sweden's Elvira Öberg was down in 11th after two late penalties ruled her out of medal contention, finishing 37.3 behind the winner.

Her older sister Hanna had a day to forget, ending an unbeaten streak in the sprints this season by coming 29th.

France's Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet had a poor day too, missing four targets to end up 34th.

Hanna Öberg and Johannes Thingnes Bø still hold overall World Cup leads ahead of women's relay and men's pursuit contests tomorrow.