The Frenchman, now a five-time Olympic champion after three gold medals at Pyeongchang 2018 last month, triumphed in the 12.5 kilometres race after a composed shooting display which saw him hit all five targets at the final standing stage.

Fourcade, starting third after his bronze in the Oslo sprint race, took the lead after shooting clean at the first prone stage in Norway's capital.

Sprint winner Henrik L’Abee Lund missed at this stage and Fourcade was able to win despite registering one missed shot during the race at the first standing phase.

He ended in 31min 31.6sec as Lukas Hofer of Italy, also with one penalty, came second 18.1 seconds adrift.

Olympic individual champion Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway finished third on home snow despite four missed shots at the range.

Lund ended with three penalties and slipped to fifth after starting first.

Fourcade, an 11-time world champion, now leads the World Cup standings by 49 points in front of Bø, with three races remaining this season.

He is hoping to win the overall title for the seventh time in a row.

France also enjoyed success today in the women's relay as Anais Bescond anchored her team of Anais Chevalier, Celia Aymonier and Marie Dorin Habert to victory with six spare rounds in 1:10:58.3.

It was not enough to win the overall relay title, however, as Germany's second-place finish ensured that they will end on top of the standings.

Maren Hammerschmidt, Denise Herrmann, Franziska Preuß and two-time Olympic champion Laura Dahlmeier also finished with six spares but were 14.4 seconds off the pace.

Italy's Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer, Nicole Gontier and Federica Sanfilippo came third, ending with eight spare rounds, 33.2 seconds back.

Germany have won the overall title with 228 points, with France ending second on 200.

The women's pursuit and men's relay will be held tomorrow in Oslo, on the famous Holmenkollen course.

King Harald V of Norway has been attending the event.