Katharina Hennig confirmed her top form at the Tour de Ski with sixth place in Oberstdorf, but narrowly missed the hoped-for first German podium in a home race since 2013.
When the Swede Frida Karlsson won over ten kilometers, the cross-country skiing Olympic champion was 23.1 seconds short of the podium after a great fight.
Hennig started the third of seven stages cautiously in the continuous rain, but caught up second by second in the last kilometers in a fight against the clock. After almost 25 minutes, the Saxon, who has already been on the podium twice this season, was 41.2 seconds behind Karlsson, who took her third win of the season and took the lead in the overall standings.
Last cross-country home podium by biathlon star Denise Herrmann
The last German with a podium place in a home race is today’s biathlete Denise Herrmann, who finished second in the sprint on December 29, 2013 in Oberhof.
Hennig has another chance on Wednesday in the pursuer over 20 kilometers at the same place.
In the overall standings, Hennig climbed from sixth to fifth place. The 26-year-old had always been the best German in the last three Tour editions as eighth twice and ninth once, and now she wants to top her result again.
Claudia Nystad (2007/08) and Katrin Zeller (2011/12), each in sixth place, provided the best result for a DSV runner to date.
Johannes Hösflot Kläbo continues to dominate
Johannes Hösflot Kläbo had previously dominated the men’s category. The defending champion from Norway also won the third stage and extended his lead in the general classification.
Only the Russian Sergey Ustiugov had previously managed a “hat trick” at the start of the tour, who even won the first five sections in 2016/17.
The best German was Albert Kuchler (Lam/+1:09.0) in 28th place. Friedrich Moch (Isny), who started the tour strongly, was 1:16.7 minutes behind Kläbo with the high start number 70 and had to keep up the 33rd place content. As a result, Moch also lost ground in the overall standings, but remains in 15th place.