Defrasne upsets Germans

It was 28-year-old Defrasne's first career solo World Cup win after winning in the 4x7.5 km relay at the 2001 Pokljuka World Championships. He finished second behind French team leader Raphael Poiree at Oberhof during the 2001-02 season in the men's 15 km mass start where he shot a perfect 20 for 20.

On Saturday, Defrasne used his sharp shooting skills once again to finish on top of the pile. He started off the race at a moderate pace, remaining within ten seconds of leaders Michael Roesch and Wolf.

He came out of the range third following shooting 1, trailing Wolf by eight seconds. The Frenchman had lost two seconds half-way through the race, but was not distracted as he shot all five targets standing up.

Russian Maxim Tchoudov, wearing bib No. 101 and starting last, squeezed himself into the standings to finish third ahead of Michael Greis, who also finished fourth at Osrblie, Slovakia in late December.

World Cup second place Raphael Poiree, who had not planned on participating in the race initially scheduled for Friday and postponed because of fog, finished 46th, missing two targets at both shootings.

And Sven Fischer, set on winning at home, ended his day in tenth place after serving a penalty round after each shooting.

Wolf retains the overall World Cup lead with Fischer moving into second ahead of Poirée. Defrasne moves all the way up from 14th to eighth.