Three Germans chase the leading group
Schmid, the best German in fourth place on Saturday, climbed 128.5 meters without much wind support. He starts the race one second ahead of Vinzenz Geiger (134 m) and two seconds ahead of Manuel Faißt (132 m). The gap to the leaders is about one minute.
Terence Weber (131.5 m) will try to catch up with the group with Schmid, Geiger and Faisst. He starts the race 1:12 minutes behind Rehrl and Lamparter.
Rydzek and Rießle lag behind a bit
The two veterans in the German team, Johannes Rydzek and Fabian Rießle, jumped exactly the same distance (130.5 meters) and went on the cross-country ski trail almost at the same time. That could play into the hands of the two strong runners, although the gap to the front of around 1:30 minutes is already huge.
Disappointment for Frenzel
Eric Frenzel, already seeded for the Olympics, starts exceptionally late after a windblown jump of just 124.5 meters. He starts the race as 23rd, immediately behind Christian Frank, who jumped 129 meters and belongs to the national group. Frenzel is almost two minutes behind the top.
Frank – from the B-Team into the spotlight
While Frank was able to take advantage of the moment, Wendelin Thannheimer, who was the strongest from the national group on Saturday, landed at 121 meters (35./+ 2:37 min). As expected, Jakob Lange (48th / 112.0 m / + 4:08 min) and David Mach (50th / 103.5 m / + 5:02 min) will have nothing to do with the decision, but collect valuable World Cup Experience.
Riiber is working on his comeback
It’s also exciting in Klingenthal because the Norwegian dominator and World Cup leader Jarl Magnus Riiber is missing. The exceptional combined athlete, who almost always wins when he starts, is suffering from a back injury. The strong-running Finn Ilkka Herola is also missing due to a corona infection.