After the jumping portion, that was moved to this morning due to the difficult weather conditions, most experts considered Tino Edelmann the favorite for the competition. In the provisional competition round (134.5 m) and the competition round afterwards, the German was clearly the best. He started the race 18 seconds ahead of Denifl and even 38 seconds ahead of local hero Janne Ryynaenen.

Edelmann was surprised by his performance. "I expected to be anywhere between 15th and 20th and thought that one of my teammates would be on the podium. Because actually I'm the worst of the team right now", Edelmann said.

Edelmann defended his comfortable lead, but in the final of four 2.5 km laps the hobby musician had to pay the price for his training deficit due to a sickness. Krog, Watabe and Mario Stecher got closer and closer to the German and closed the gap on the final climb. Watabe took the lead, but then Magnus Krob was the fittest and achieved his first victory in the World Cup.

"I found the right speed during the race. Actually I was only speculating about the second place. But when we saw Tino Edelmann in front of us and noticed that he was not that fit anymore we gave it all again", said Krog. But the Scandinavian remains modest. "I'm surprised that I could win here, and I'm also very proud to have the yellow bib. But I'm sure I won't win the overall World Cup."

Also Watabe was surprised today. "It is always a surprise if a Japanese is on the podium, just like I was in Seefeld two years ago. Today I benefited from the mistakes of the top athletes. When I took the lead in the final round I did not have enough energy anymore."

Wilhelm Denifl and Janne Ryynaenen, who were also part of the second group for three laps, could not keep up with them in the final lap. While the Finn defended the fifth place against Magnus Moan, Bjoern Kircheisen and Mikko Kokslien, Denifl came in only tenth, also behind Sebastien Lacroix from France. Lacroixs teammate Jason Lamy Chappuis, the overall World Cup winner of the last two years and reigning World and Olympic champion, moved up from 21st after the jumping to 16th. World Champion Eric Frenzel (GER) did not take part in the race after a bad jump.

Magnus Krog will start the second competition in Kuusamo on Saturday (9:30 am jumping/2:15 pm race) with the yellow bib of the World Cup leader for the first time. If the conditions will not get better until then the provisional competition round could count. So nothing will stand in the way of a good competition. The best 50 athletes of the provisional competition round qualify for the competition. The Top 10 of the World Cup ranking are pre-qualified.

Tags: 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Rating: 

3.1/5

 

Print

Comment on Nordic-combined forum