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(L-R) Second placed Norway's Martin Uldal, winner Italy's Tommaso Giacomel and third placed Sweden's Sebastian Samuelsson react at the podium after the men's 12,5km pursuit event of the IBU Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof. Hendrik Schmidt/dpa
Italy's Tommaso Giacomel survived six penalty laps to claim a dramatic pursuit victory on a windy Saturday in Oberhof and with a third season success in a row moved to the top of the biathlon World Cup standings.
Giacomel seemed out of contention one minute off the pace with six missed targets after the third shooting but then shot clean when it mattered while his rivals faltered.
Thursday's sprint winner held on for first place 4.5 points ahead of Norway's Martin Uldal who seemed on course to victory but then missed three of his four targets in the last shooting.
Sebastian Samuelsson of Sweden was 8.8 seconds back in third, like Giacomel with six penalty laps.
Those who did well in the shooting range gained plenty of positions from the sprint, with Ukraine's Dmytro Pidruchnyi rising from 41st to seventh just 20 seconds off the pace with one missed target.
Giacomel moved 51 points clear at the top of the World Cup, ahead of Norway's Johan-Olav Botn who was not in Oberhof due to illness.
The victories in Germany are highly emotional for Giacomel as they are the first races since the death of his close Norwegian friend Sivert Guttorm Bakken on December 23.
He had dedicated the sprint success to Bakken, and will fly with the Norwegian team to Bakken's funeral on Tuesday in Lillehammer.
A women's relay was scheduled for later Saturday in Oberhof.
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