Quentin Fillon Maillet gets ready to greet his team mates at the finish line ©Evgeny Tumashov

The French team battled heavy snow to take victory in the men’s relay at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany.

It’s been a wonderful weekend for the French competitors, with six in the top 13 of the men’s 10 kilometre sprint – including the winner Martin Fourcade and runner-up Quentin Fillon Maillet.

Both were part of the relay quartet, alongside Emilien Jacquelin and Simon Desthieux, using six spare rounds in their 1hr 18min 11.2sec victory today.

Remarkably it was the first relay win for the French men since the pre-Olympic event at Pyeongchang in March 2017.

Norway finished second, with 10 spare rounds, 1:12.2 back, while Austria registered their first podium of the season with just four spare rounds, 1:24.3 back.

"I am very happy with this win," Fillon Maillet said.

"Thanks to my team mates, they did a very good job.

"I knew I could not fail in the shooting, I had some mistakes, but it not affect the lead."

The men's and women's pursuit races complete the competition tomorrow.