Third win of the season for Vinzenz Geiger, next podium place for Julian Schmid: The German combined athletes said goodbye to the long Christmas break with another absolute top result and once again underlined their great ambitions around two months before the start of the World Cup.
At the World Cup in Ramsau am Dachstein, Beijing Olympic champion Geiger prevailed after a very strong performance on the cross-country ski trail, one second ahead of the Finn Ilkka Herola – Geiger had only made the decision from 15th place after jumping.
“That was perfect. I’ve already won a few times here in Ramsau. Ending the year like that is brilliant,” said the 27-year-old violinist after his 13th World Cup success on ARD.
Geiger’s Oberstdorf teammate Schmid came third, 9.6 seconds behind, making it onto the podium for the fifth time in the seventh race. Behind the two top Germans, Wendelin Thannheimer surprised with his best career result in seventh place. Norway’s top star Jarl Magnus Riiber, who had extended his overall lead the day before with his 76th World Cup victory, only came in sixth due to health problems.
German combined athletes with a strong season
The DSV combined teams already have four wins and a total of twelve podium places to their name; in the entire preseason they only achieved three third places in the individual.
The best German runners entered the cross-country ski trail well behind, Schmid was in eleventh place (+1:02), Geiger in 15th place (+1:06). Because the best jumpers around the leader Ryota Yamamoto (Japan) didn’t run too fast, a large chasing group around the DSV aces soon caught up. On the last lap there was a duel between Geiger and Herola. “But I was already sure that I would win,” said Geiger.
On Friday, the DSV combined athletes missed the podium for the first time this season in the chaotic mass start competition, when the jumping was canceled and the provisional result from the previous day had to be used. The best German was Schmid in sixth place, Geiger came ninth.
The World Cup doesn’t start until the 18th/19th. January continues with the German home game in Schonach.