Tour de Ski: Hennig survives “shaky party”
EFirst Friedrich Moch ensured a “half” World Cup victory, then Katharina Hennig also survived the endurance test in her unloved technique: The German cross-country skiers were also completely convincing at the home game in Oberstdorf on the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski. “That’s a great story, the team result is still really good,” said national coach Peter Schlickenrieder.
Olympic champion Hennig ran ninth in the pursuit over 20 kilometers, dropping her from fifth to seventh place in the overall ranking. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old was completely satisfied. “The freestyle pursuer is a shaky game for me,” said Hennig after the competition in the style she didn’t like: “It was an exciting race. I’m happy that we ended up with a top ten result.”
In the overall ranking, before the three final stages in Val di Fiemme, Hennig is 2:31 minutes behind the Swede Frida Karlsson, who took her fourth win of the season. Hennig had always been the best German in the last three editions as eighth twice and ninth once, now she wants to top this result.
Laura Gimmler and Pia Fink were convincing on Wednesday in places 20 and 24. Sofie Krehl and Katherine Sauerbrey had to forego a start due to health issues.
Friedrich Moch had previously set an exclamation mark for the men with the best running time of the day. The 22-year-old from Isny was 1:17 minutes behind dominator Johannes Hösflot Kläbo in pursuit, quickly caught up with the leading group and was even in the lead after 11.2 kilometers.
“When a Friedrich Moch runs the best individual time, which is almost equivalent to a World Cup victory, you have to be very satisfied. He fought great,” said Schlickenrieder. In the end, Moch finished 15th, just 6.7 seconds behind. “I’m very satisfied. We put a lot of pressure on right from the start,” said Moch, who climbed to eleventh place in the overall standings. The Norwegian title defender Kläbo, who clinched his fourth victory on the fourth stage, was unstoppable again.
