Benedikt Doll could not pose a threat to the biathlon dominator Johannes Thingnes Bö. The veteran of the German team was satisfied after his excellent third place in the last sprint of the calendar year.
"Something could have gone on the track, then the race would have been perfect. But I'll definitely put that in the category of ten percent good races," said the 32-year-old after his first podium finish of the winter in Le Grand- Bornand. The Black Forester remained flawless for the ninth time in his career and, 38.8 seconds behind the Norwegian serial winner Bö, created a good starting position for the pursuit on Saturday (12.10 p.m. / ARD and Eurosport).
Doll about squall: "It's awesome"
"Even before the race I had a good feeling, I was relaxed and not stressed," said Doll about his recipe for success. "I wanted to take this ease with me and I relied on the fact that I'm currently good at running." The reward was the fifth best term.
High-flyer Bö was 40 seconds faster on the cross-country ski run and also flawless at the shooting range. Because he is so reliable at the moment, he was once again unbeatable in the Haute-Savoie. It was his fifth win in a row. Only in the first race of the season was Bö, in twelfth place, one of the defeated.
"It's awesome," said Doll admiringly about his competitor. Sturla Holm Laegreid made the Norwegian double success perfect. He was 17.6 seconds behind his teammates. "Of course I want to maintain the gap," said Bö, looking ahead to the next race. Le Grand-Bornand is one of his favorite places. Nine years ago, the 29-year-old clinched his debut victory in the World Cup there, now he stands at 57.
Doll provided the highlight of the DSV with his first podium finish of the season and fifth place in the men's team. This time, however, his teammates had nothing to do with top positions. Philipp Horn made it into the top 20 in 19th place. He had previously competed in the second-class IBU Cup and replaced Philipp Nawrath (back problems) in the team. David Zobel (22nd), Roman Rees (27th), Johannes Kühn (34th) and Justus Strelow (45th) will try to work their way up the field on Saturday.
Zobel: "There's a brutal atmosphere here"
However, the lack of snow, the high temperatures and warnings from environmentalists in advance did not affect the opening competition. The organizers had 24,000 cubic meters of snow delivered in trucks under strong criticism. Unlike the climate activists who blocked the track in Lillehammer, Norway earlier this month and caused a lot of excitement at the cross-country skiing World Cup, everything went smoothly in the men's sprint. Even better: Despite the rain, the spectators not only cheered on the local heroes around Quentin Fillon-Maillet. "If you think about it, then I like it here very much. It's a brutal atmosphere. I got goosebumps and we'll still have some great celebrations here," said Zobel.
Denise Herrmann-Wick, Franziska Preuß, Janina Hettich-Walz, Vanessa Voigt, Anna Weidel and Sophia Schneider can also look forward to this atmosphere on Friday. They also want to score points in the sprint (2:15 p.m. / ARD and Eurosport). At the World Cup last week in Hochfilzen, individual Olympic champion Herrmann-Wick won the 7.5 kilometer race.
