Fourcade added the men’s 15 kilometres mass start title to the 10km sprint crown he secured on Friday (January 10).

Victory for the 31-year-old Frenchman saw him move ahead of the absent Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway to lead the overall World Cup standings after nine of the scheduled 24 races.

The French star has 387 points, 13 ahead of the Norwegian.

Fourcade finished in 41min 04.4sec, with Germany’s Arnd Peiffer second, 20.1sec behind.

France’s Simon Desthieux ended the race a fraction behind to take third place and is now third in the overall list with 352 points.

Finland’s 37-year-old Kaisa-Leena Mäkäräinen won the women's 12.5km mass start.

The 2011 pursuit world champion, who has competed at the last three winter Olympics, finished in 39:58.9.

She was followed home by two Norwegians - Tiril Eckhoff, who was 30.2sec behind, and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, winner of the opening 7.5km sprint event in Oberhof.

Eckhoff, who put together four consecutive World Cup wins last month, still heads the mass start overall rankings with 114 points, 11 more than her Finnish rival.

The Norwegian also ranks second in the overall World Cup list on 381 points behind Italy’s Dorothea Wierer, who has 390.