Norwegian legend Ole Einar Bjoerndalen clinched his five overall World Cup title with a sixth place finish in the men's 15km mass start in the penultimate round in Khanty-Mansiysk.

Bjoerndalen now has 851 points and is 169 points ahead of Dmitri Yaroshenko's 682 - with only three races and a maximum of 150 points left to be won.

Bjoerndalen is also now guarateeed the mass start crown too after his nearest competitor, his protgee Emil Hegle Svendsen, could only finish 28th.

The race was won by Poland's Tomasz Sikora who missed just one shot to come home 15.1 seconds ahead of Daniel Graf and Michal Slesinger, who finished joint-second.

Ivan Tcherezov of Russia was just off the podium in fourth

Meanwhile, Germany"s Kathrin Hitzer scored her second win in a row in the women's 12.5km mass start, blowing wide open the race for the World Cup crown.

The 21-year-old had only two penalties and crossed the finishing line 19.2 seconds before her team-mate Magdalena Neuner, who had a total of five errors but by far the fastest skiing time.

Svetlana Sleptsova of Russia finished third with three misses, 33.3 seconds behind Hitzer.

"I can't quite believe it," Hitzer said. "The last lap to the finish felt amazing. I think I'll really celebrate a bit tonight."

With Sandrine Bailly missing eight of her 20 targets and finishing in a disappointing 20th place and Andrea Henkel ending up in 13th position, Neuner vastly improved her chances in the fight for the World Cup overall title.

In the morning I thought that I would never be able to catch up," said Neuner. "But I won't let that get to myself. I am quite confident after the race today, though.

Eurosport