Saturday, November 27th, 2021
Combiner really clears things up
Spectacular German triple World Cup victory
Terence Weber in front for the first time, Eric Frenzel and Vinzenz Geiger behind: The German combined athletes dominate the World Cup in Ruka, Finland, and perfect a triple victory that was hardly thought possible. The disqualification of a favorite plays into the hands of the trio.
Terence Weber let Eric Frenzel and Vinzenz Geiger stand ice-cold at minus 15 degrees, then the surprise was perfect: Led by premiere winner Weber, the German combined athletes celebrated a triple victory at the World Cup in Ruka, Finland, which was hardly thought possible. The trio of national coach Hermann Weinbuch also benefited from a disqualification of the Norwegian dominator Jarl Magnus Riiber.
“It is a dream to wear the yellow jersey. Today it has come true. I hope I can build on this performance tomorrow,” said Weber, who after the first World Cup victory of his career, the overall standings with 114 points ahead of the two world champions Johannes Lamparter ( Austria / 112) and Riiber (100).
Weber’s previously best World Cup result was a seventh place in Ramsau in 2018. The high-flyer was already in the lead after jumping, at the finish he had a 1.2 second lead over the three-time Olympic champion Frenzel, who also started for SSV Geyer. “It feels really good to start the season like this. I’m really happy with both the jump and cross-country skiing. We Germans did a good job today,” said Frenzel.
Revenge on Sunday
Team Olympic champion Geiger (+2.3 seconds) made the first German triple podium since February 6th in Klingenthal perfect. Julian Schmidt (both Oberstdorf / + 3.1 seconds) rounded off the outstanding result in fifth, and it was also the best result of his career for the 22-year-old.
Top favorite Riiber, who had won the season opener on Friday, was not at the start. The three-time winner of the overall World Cup was disqualified after qualifying for a non-compliant suit. This is not the first time that Riiber has had this mishap, the last time he was disqualified in November 2020 – also at the start of the season in Ruka. But he can take revenge on Sunday.
The trail was high from the start: after 2.5 kilometers, a top group of seven had formed, including Frenzel and Geiger, who were greatly improved in jumping, and Weber, who achieved the best distance in the morning with 136.5 m. World champion Lamparter (Austria) pushed the pace further back, after half of the distance the group had grown to ten runners.
Above all, the German trio kept the pace high, and finally Schmid, who started from 23rd position, joined them. In the last lap the DSV team had enough grains to keep their favorite Lamparter in check. The second on Friday had to be content with eighth place.