The season finale in Lahti was a direct hit for Germany’s cross -country skiers. After the sprint successes, Victoria Carl celebrated second place in the overall ranking on Sunday.
There has never been this: The Thuringian Victoria Carl was the first German cross-country skier in the World Cup overall ranking on the podium. Carl defended her second place behind the overall winner Jessie Diggins (USA) at the season finale over 50 kilometers of mass start in Lahti, Finnish in Finnish Lahti.
Carl could have been overhauled by Kerttu Niskanen in a row on the long strap, but although the Finn was faster, the upholstery was enough. The Thuringian ended the long season as the second best cross -country skier of the winter. This success was sweetened by Carl with 47,900 euros in prize money.
Johaug with one Demonstration of power
The last race of the season dominated Therese Johaug – and impressively. The Norwegian ran a lonely race, even cut runners and drove to the finish after 2: 14.40.7 minutes. In her (maybe) last race, Johaug was more than a minute faster than her teammate Astrid Oeyre Slind. Slind was also alone and crossed the finish line with a buffer of more than two minutes to third place. The fight for third place was exciting, which EBBA Andersson (Sweden) decided against the fierce fighting Teresa Stadlober (Austria).
Hennig strong fifth
Katharina Hennig also had the last place on the winner’s podium at Kaiserwetter in Lahti, in the end ran fifth as the best German. The classic specialists were still hung in the last few meters – which was not unimportant even with regard to Carl’s second place in the overall ranking.
After a long, difficult season, Hennig initially looked baptismal and played the locomotive for miles in the first large chase group. Carl also bit in a group of seven, but was increasingly struggling. Half of the race was too great. Carl had to let off on the climb and did not make the connection again. After all, she prevented a total break-in and defended her third place in the spacer World Cup and her second place in the overall ranking.
Andersson blows the Chasing group
Hennig, on the other hand, was allowed to dream of third place for a long time. But the competitors also did that. The Swede Ebba Andersson tore a small gap almost 20 kilometers before the destination after the ski change and ran a few seconds ahead of Hennig, Niskanen and Teresa Stadlober (Austria). Only Stadlober had enough grains in the tank to connect to Andersson. Hennig and Niskanen could not follow and quickly piled up a huge gap. Hennig was missing more than a minute in third place, Johaug was four minutes faster than the best German.
In addition to Hennig and Carl, Pia Fink (17th) and Katherine Sauerbrey also tortured themselves over the long strap at the end of the season. Both ended up in the field.
Fantastic season finale for DSV long runners
After the sensational victories in the sprint and team sprint, the German cross -country skiers in the far north had a permanent smile on the face. Some people may have been annoyed that the season is now over. The Germans end the season in Scandinavia, train there on snow and still take part in smaller competitions. After a short vacation, the preparation for the new season continues on April 28th. “There are no long vacations in the South Pacific”joked national coach Peter Schlickenrieder. You get in so early because the Olympic Games begin on February 6th. So you have to be in top form early.
Johaug’s last victory?
It remains to be seen whether Johaug will torture himself again. Actually, the Norwegian didn’t want to start in Lahti anymore. The “nice weather” finally made you want. Johaug traveled especially for the 50 km race and secured her 86th World Cup victory after a solo ride in the sunshine through the forest of Lahti. Johaug set herself from her only Ernsthafen Slind very early on and ran lonely to victory.
It is possible that this impressive success motivates so that Johaug is still on a season. She actually wanted to finally end her career after the lightning comeback – she had returned from the break for the home World Cup in Trondheim. However, the Norwegian did not clearly state. “I don’t go to the Olympics for me. I’m 99 percent sure that I can’t do that”had said Johaug before the race.