Vinzenz Geiger continues double-win tradition in Klingenthal
Feb 07, 2021·Nordic Combined
After 2013, 2018 and 2019, Klingenthal has the next back-to-back winner: Vinzenz Geiger also claimed the second win with an advantage of 4.1 seconds on Akito Watabe, who in turn outsprinted jumping winner Lukas Greiderer on the final metres of the race. He finished 0.5 seconds after the Japanese.
Earlier in the day, Greiderer had won the jumping round for the first time in his career. He set a new hill record with 148.5 metres (142.2 p.) and took a lead of four seconds on Japan’s Ryota Yamamoto. Yamamoto showed 138 metres from two gates lower than the other athletes after a coach request, totalling at 141.1 points. Manuel Faißt was third with 140.5 metres and started his race 12 seconds after Greiderer.
Akito Watabe was in the mix once more with 138 metres and collected 137.4 points which had him start his race 19 seconds after Greiderer. Vinzenz Geiger was poised to continue the double-victory tradition in Klingenthal with 138.5 metres and starting position five. He had to make up 23 seconds on Greiderer on the track.
His teammates Fabian Rießle, Johannes Rydzek and Eric Frenzel had the “German Express” rolling again with starting positions nine, ten and eleven. They started between +0:53 and +1:06 after leader Greiderer. Positive signs also for Jens Lurås Oftebro: after the Norwegian struggled on the jumping hill in the past weeks, he finally had a better jump in the competition round and ended up on the intermediate position eight, +0:40 seconds after Greiderer.
In the race, Lukas Greiderer defended his lead for 5 km but shortly after, Vinzenz Geiger and Akito Watabe, who had dropped Manuel Faißt, Yoshito Watabe and Ryota Yamamoto along the way, closed the gap to the Austrian.
After that, the leadership was a trio. Much like yesterday, there was little doubt that Geiger was the strongest skier of the three and he set an attack early in the fifth lap. Lukas Greiderer tried his utmost to follow him but had to concede defeat in the big uphills. Akito Watabe had smartly followed his own pace when Geiger sprinted away and was able to close the gap to a visibly tired Greiderer again in the s-curves and then outsprinted the Austrian on the outer lane to the finish to take yet another second place, his 29th.
Behind the leading group, Jens Lurås Oftebro and Johannes Lamparter had skied together and overtaken Yoshito Watabe and Ryota Yamamoto as well by the 4 km point. The two were in turn chased by the “German express”. By 6 km, all these athletes formed a big chasing group. By 8.8 km, they had overtaken Manuel Faißt and Oftebro was leading the pack at a distance of 43.5 seconds to the leader.
Taking the lead of the group through the s-curves proved smart and so the Norwegian finally claimed a very good result with rank four again. Fabian Rießle finished fifth, Johannes Rydzek was sixth, Eric Frenzel seventh, Johannes Lamparter eighth. Manuel Faißt and Yoshito Watabe closed out the Top Ten.
