At the Tour de Ski, German cross-country skiers confirmed the positive development from recent years. National coach Schlickenrieder praises – and curbs the euphoria before the start in Davos.
The Tour de Ski is already three stages old and when you look at the overall standings, the German Ski Association could get a little euphoric. Victoria Carl in second place, Friedrich Moch in sixth place. In addition, Katharina Hennig, weakened by a corona infection, is in 16th place, Pia Fink in 22nd place. And among the men there are also three runners in the top 30 with Lucas Bögl (13th place) and Lucas Notz (23rd).
Schlickenrieder: Great great great
National coach Peter Schlickenrieder was correspondingly satisfied after the pursuit in Toblach on Monday. There was a lot of praise for his top athletes. Carl have “gained the accelerator again at the right time”said Schlickenrieder and gave her one “great tactical performance” and “great race division”. I also like it “everything done right”. Bögl has one “showed great combat effort”, as well as Notz and Hennig. He’s not the only one with Fink’s 22nd place “Quite satisfied. You know she can do more”. The result is due to the symptoms of fatigue “still brilliant”.
Schlickenrieders Promises come true
No wonder that Schlickenrieder showers his protégés with such generous praise. Because the Tour de Ski once again consolidates the positive impression that the German cross-country skiing team has been making since the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022 at the latest. The women won gold in the team sprint and silver in the relay. The men followed suit with bronze in the relay at last year’s World Championships and the women shone again with silver.
Now the DSV team is doing better at the Tour de Ski than it has for a long time. The valley that German cross-country skiing went through after the retirement of greats like Axel Teichmann and Tobias Angerer seems to have finally been overcome. The predictions that Schlickenrieder made before the season were… “can keep up at certain points” with “the best of the best”have already been fulfilled.
National coach warns about the height
Now the entourage travels to Davos, where the sprint takes place on Wednesday (January 3rd, 2024) and another pursuit the following day before the finale goes to Val di Fiemme in Italy. But before the stop in Switzerland, Schlickenrieder puts the brakes on the euphoria a little. Davos is the highest city in Europe, which is why the national coach fears that the performance of his athletes could decline compared to other nations. “We didn’t do any altitude preparation for the tour like the Scandinavians – especially the Swedes and Norwegians”says Schlickenrieder and explains: “We’ll have to see what comes out of it. I wouldn’t raise expectations too high now.”
Fighting spirit is needed again in Val di Fiemme
Because the field is extremely close together. There are just nine seconds between Carl in second place and ninth-placed Emma Ribom. And among the men, third and eleventh place are only separated by seven seconds. It will be exciting to see how the field changes before the legendary climb to the Alpe Cermis ski station at the last stop of the Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme. Then at the latest, the fighting skills of the cross-country skiers will once again be particularly important. And as the DSV team has proven several times, Schlickenrieder’s protégés certainly have no shortage of it.