The last shot in the final sprint of his career visibly annoyed Erik Lesser. After nine goals, the 33-year-old just missed the target – and thus missed a possible podium finish at the legendary Holmenkollen.
“I’m happy with the result, but somehow it pisses me off that the last shot went wrong. I would have liked to have been on the podium again,” said Lesser after the 10 km race at the World Cup finals in Oslo “ZDF”.
Nevertheless: As a strong fifth in the superior home win of Norwegian Sturla Holm Lägreid, the veteran, who will end his successful career on Sunday, secured himself for the pursuer on Saturday (3:00 p.m. live on Eurosport) over 12.5 km a brilliant starting position.
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Lesser thus confirmed his strong form on his farewell tour.
Doll, Lesser and Nawrath just missed the podium
After his missed shot, Lesser ignited the turbo on the final lap and set the fastest lap. In the end, Sebastian Samuelsson from Sweden was 13.5 seconds behind.
Benedikt Doll was fourth, 0.5 seconds faster than Lesser. Philipp Nawrath in sixth place, Johannes Kühn in eighth and David Zobel in eleventh rounded off a strong team result for the German Ski Association. This gives hope for the weekend with the pursuit and mass start to finish on Sunday.
“We can be very satisfied with the team. That makes the farewell all the nicer,” stressed Lesser. “We all managed that quite well and can be satisfied, even if we didn’t quite make it forward,” added Nawrath.
Herrmann and Hildebrand in the top ten
Among the women, Olympic champion Denise Herrmann took seventh place in the sprint over 7.5 km as the best DSV starter. Missing on the podium for the pursuer on Saturday (12:50 p.m. live on Eurosport) over 10 km 46.7 seconds. Franziska Hildebrand in ninth and Janina Hettich in twelfth also achieved their best World Cup results this winter in plus temperatures and difficult conditions.
“I found it very difficult on the track. I’m a power runner, so a lot of things fizzle out in the soft snow,” said Herrmann on “ZDF”. But she was “satisfied with her shooting. I’m still interested in the last two competitions at the weekend.”
Local hero Eckhoff (“Wonderful, I’m so happy) clinched the second win of the season. Team colleague Marte Olsbu Röiseland secured the small sprint crystal globe with third place. The overall ranking can hardly be taken away from the three-time Olympic champion in Beijing before the last two races of the season After the overall World Cup, Quentin Fillon Maillet also won the sprint ranking for the men.
(with SID)
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