Janina Hettich and Erik Lesser missed the fourth German victory and the podium at the traditional World Team Challenge of the biathletes despite a sovereign lead at half-time.
The duo of the German Ski Association only took fourth place in the special edition in Ruhpolding.
The victory went to Lisa Hauser and Felix Leitner from Austria, ahead of the defending champions Evgeniya Burtasova and Matvey Eliseev from Russia. Vanessa Hinz and Benedikt Doll were the last to disappoint.
In pouring rain, Hettich and Lesser were 38 seconds ahead of the competition after eight faultless shooting bouts in the mass start.
However, in the subsequent persecution, they lost their considerable advantage. Both made four shooting errors each.
Hinz and Simon Schempp provided the last German success in 2016. Martina Glagow / Michael Greis (2002) and Laura Dahlmeier / Florian Graf (2013) had previously been victorious.
Preuss and Herrmann not at the start
The DSV top athletes Franziska Preuß and Denise Herrmann were absent from this year’s team competition. Herrmann was in poor health before Christmas, Preuss is currently on pause due to a foot injury. When the 27-year-old can return to the World Cup is open.
As in the previous year, the World Team Challenge was relocated from the arena to Schalke to Ruhpolding at short notice due to the corona pandemic. The race had to take place again without spectators.
The Biathlon World Cup will continue from January 6th to 9th in Oberhof. This will be followed by the World Cup in Ruhpolding on January 12th.
.
ttn-9