The Blues, in the lead at halfway after the very good passages of Eric Perrot and Quentin Fillon Maillet, let go of the controls when the third torchbearer, Antonin Guigonnat, could not avoid a penalty lap on his standing shot.
Fabien Claude nevertheless kept them on the podium, despite a shot lying at the limit.
Bad start with Sturla Laegreid, who also suffered a penalty lap, the Norwegians were able to raise the bar with Tarjei Boe, Vetle Christiansen and Johannes Boe.
"It's a good thing to see that we can challenge them even with their typical team," said Fabien Claude, the last French torchbearer of the day, at the microphone of the L'Equipe channel.
"We know that to beat them, you have to be perfect," he added.
"It would be nice if we could turn things around for the Worlds," hopes Fillon Maillet, almost impeccable behind the rifle on Friday (1 pick).
Emilien Jacquelin, who experienced a rout the previous week in Pokljuka (Slovenia), did not participate in the race, as had already been the case for the individual two days ago.
The blue relay is on the podium for the second time this winter, after its third place already in Kontiolahti (Finland), the opening stage of the World Cup.
Before the Worlds in February, a last relay is scheduled next week in Antholz-Anterselva (Italy), on the future Olympic site of the 2026 Olympics.
In Bavaria, before two mass starts on Sunday, place for the women's relay on Saturday afternoon (2:25 p.m.).
Without Julia Simon, yellow bib of the leader of the general classification of the World Cup, left to rest.
The French quartet will be made up of Lou Jeanmonnot, Chloé Chevalier, Sophie Chauveau and Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet.
© 2023 AFP