Halvor Egner Granerud doesn’t miss a beat and wins the tour. The only German ray of hope remains Philipp Raimund.
When Halvor Egner Granerud raised the golden eagle in the night sky with a whoop, the historic German tour debacle was carved in stone.
Even in the final, the battered DSV-Adler did not jump out more than twelfth place through youngster Philipp Raimund, it was the sobering end of a horror week. For the first time in 35 years, no German finished in the top ten in Bischofshofen.
“Now the oven is slowly going out, there were turbulent days with a lot of unpleasant things. I have to let some air get in there first,” says Karl Geiger, who started out as a beacon of hope.
The man from Oberstdorf, who had always been on the podium at the final of the tour for the last three years, disappointed again after his zero number in Innsbruck with 23rd place.
“Far too little self-confidence” in DSV jumpers
The best German in the overall ranking was Andreas Wellinger in eleventh place – the DSV team had last jumped a worse tour in 1994/95, when Jens Weißflog was only the best German in twelfth place. Wellinger, weakened by a gastrointestinal infection, did not get past 20th place on Friday.
“It was a difficult tour for everyone involved. Our top jumpers have far too little self-confidence,” said national coach Stefan Horngacher on “ZDF”.
At least Constantin Schmid could be satisfied with 16th place. The six-time world champion Markus Eisenbichler (31st) even missed the second round for the third time in the fourth tournament. Stephan Leyhe and Pius Paschke also dropped out early.
Kubacki missed catching up
The Norwegian Granerud, on the other hand, didn’t miss a beat, won the day on the Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze like in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen and was able to enjoy his first tournament triumph in the glow of the fireworks.
“It’s amazing. I’ve dreamed of this day for so long. I’ve always been fascinated by the tournament,” said Granerud, who also set a tournament record with 1191.2 points from four competitions.
The Pole Dawid Kubacki, who had become a father for the second time a few hours before the competition, missed the catch-up race, which was hardly possible anyway, in third place behind Anze Lanisek (Slovenia).
Granerud was already in the lead after the first round and ensured clear conditions, as the first Norwegian since Anders Jacobsen (2006/07) he won the ride over the four hills and made his trauma of winter 2020/21 forgotten. At that time he was leading as a clear favorite at half-time before a completely botched first jump in Innsbruck threw him out of the race.
Tour to forget for the DSV-Adler
Meanwhile, a tour to forget ended for the DSV-Adler. For the first time since 2016/17 there was not a single podium. “That’s one of the most bitter things we’ve experienced here since I’ve been a coach,” Horngacher said before the last competition.
At least it wasn’t quite as embarrassing as in Innsbruck, when Geiger failed to qualify. Nevertheless, the present does not give much encouragement, especially since there are only a few weeks left until the World Championships in Planica (February 21 to March 6). “As a team, we were rarely as far away as we are at the moment,” said team manager Horst Hüttel.
But there is hardly any time to catch your breath: it continues on 14./15. January in Zakopane. It’s quite possible that one or the other DSV starter in Poland will get a break. “Let’s see,” said Horngacher: “We’ll let that sink in first and then we’ll plan further.”