Chaotic deep snow race dashes German Tour hopes
Too much snow for cross-country skiing - this is the problem facing the athletes at the Tour de Ski. Fresh snow causes waxing problems and German hope Victoria Carl even falls. All dreams are gone for her. For one of her teammates, on the other hand, things are difficult but successful.
Crash victim Victoria Carl had to bury her hopes of a podium place at the Tour de Ski in the deep snow of Davos, while Katharina Hennig successfully battled with her cleats: In a chaotic pursuit race, frustration and joy went hand in hand for the Olympic cross-country champions. While Carl only finished in 31st place after a lot of bad luck, Hennig finished in the top ten despite severe waxing difficulties.
"That was definitely the strangest race I've ever done in the World Cup," said Hennig after her ninth place in the gloppy fresh snow: "Everyone who had waxed had difficulties. I had problems getting the cleats off after every climb. I stopped four times and cleaned my skis meticulously."
Cleats, as the annoying lumps of snow under the skis are called, did not prevent Hennig from running a very strong race. "You couldn't give up mentally today," said the athlete from Oberwiesenthal. Carl didn't give up in a bad situation either. However, after a fall after around 5 of 22 kilometers, the 28-year-old lagged behind the field and dropped from fifth to eighth place in the overall standings.
In the men's race, Friedrich Moch shone with fifth place and his second-best World Cup result. In the overall standings, Moch moved up to fourth place and is only two seconds behind the podium. The Norwegian Harald Östberg Amundsen extended his lead with his second victory of the day.
Carl is now a long way behind
Finland's Kerttu Niskanen secured her second stage win after 1:12:00.7 hours ahead of the US American Rosie Brennan (+0.8 seconds) in the sometimes heavy snow. Her compatriot Jessie Diggins consolidated the overall lead in third place. Hennig, who had started the Tour with low expectations after suffering from coronavirus, was 15.2 seconds behind.
Carl reached the finish line 1:00.2 minutes behind. In the Tour standings, she is 1:39 minutes behind Diggins, who leads ahead of Niskanen (+44 seconds) and Sweden's Jonna Sundling (+52). Hennig is 15th (+2:30 minutes). Lisa Lohmann impressed with 17th place, while Sofie Krehl, like Pia Fink the day before, had to end the tour due to illness.
Carl had been second after the first three stages and slipped to fifth place on Wednesday after the sprint in Davos. However, this gave her the chance of the first podium finish for a German skier in a stage race. Hennig's best result to date was fifth last year.
Carl started the Davos race 59 seconds behind Sweden's Linn Svahn, who had started first. Together with Hennig, who started from 30th place (+1:11 minutes), she quickly closed the gap. Carl then suffered a mishap and fell around a minute behind the leaders. Hennig was on course for the podium at times, but lacked a little strength in the finish. The Tour de Ski continues on Saturday in Val di Fiemme with the classic race over 15 kilometers, before the final with the infamous climb to Alpe Cermis on Sunday.
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Despite the challenging conditions for winter sports due to excessive snow, Nordic skiing athlete Katharina Hennig managed to excel in the Tour de Ski, battling with her cleats and finishing in the top ten, despite waxing difficulties. On the other hand, Victoria Carl, who had high hopes for a podium finish, struggled with the same waxing issues and fell multiple times, ultimately finishing in 31st place.
Source: www.ntv.de
