While she had only competed in ten races during her first World Cup winter, Neuner became a fixture in the German team in the 2006–07 season. She proved to be one of the fastest cross-country skiers in biathlon, and at 19 years old, regularly set the fastest course times. On 5 January 2007, Neuner won her first World Cup event, the sprint race in Oberhof, Germany. Her victory on home soil, before a crowd of 19,000 people, received considerable media attention and put her into the national spotlight for the first time. Two days later at the pursuit race, she forgot to reload her rifle after warm-up. She was handed a new magazine during the prone shooting and managed to finish third despite a total of six shooting errors.