Friedrich Moch provided a ray of hope at the Tour de Ski: The cross-country skier put in a strong performance in the 20 km pursuit in Oberstdorf. The 22-year-old made up 16 places and finished the race in 15th place.
Johannes Hosflot Klaebo was also the hunted in the pursuit in Oberstdorf. The Norwegian went into the 20-kilometre chaser with a twelve-second lead over his teammate Simen Hegstad Krüger. But the leader of the Tour rankings didn’t even try to go forward alone.
A large leading group quickly formed – including Friedrich Moch. The 22-year-old started the 31st race, 1:17 behind. Moch showed courage and made up places by places. But he also benefited from the low racing pace.
decision on the final climb
The leading group stayed together for a long time. The decision was only made on the last climb – and once again Klaebo showed his class – and finished ahead of his compatriot Sindre Björnestad Skar. Third was the Italian Federico Pellegrino.
Moch was not quite able to keep up and finished 15th, 6.9 seconds behind.
Except for Moch, no DSV runners in the points
It looked worse for the other German athletes and nobody made it into the World Cup points, which are only awarded to the top 30 on the Tour. Jonas Dobler was 31st, Florian Notz 32nd, Lucas Bögl finished 44th. With Thomas Bing, no more than rank 65 was possible.