The German biathletes can once again rely on Simon Schempp and Erik Lesser at the home World Cup in Ruhpolding. The two top runners of the German Ski Association (DSV) trained on Tuesday without any problems and are available for the individual race on Wednesday (14.20 hrs in the LIVETICKER) over 20 km “We are complete again. Erik trained well. There are also positive things to report for Simon,”said DSV coach Andreas Stitzl on Tuesday.
Mass start world champion Schempp (Uhingen) had to give up pursuit and relay last week in Oberhof because of muscular problems in the thigh. Lesser (Frankenhain) had been missing completely because of an infection.
At Schempp, however, one has to “wait for the competition to come up with what the muscles are capable of,”said Stitzl:”In terms of physical condition, he feels really good. He needs a sense of achievement now.”
This applies to the entire men’s team, for which there were only three podium places (once in relay) in the Olympic winter. Dominator Martin Fourcade (France) and Johannes Thingnes Bö (Norway) dominate the game a few weeks before the games in Pyeongchang/South Korea (9th place). till 25. February) the event.
You can see their dominance of course, Stitzl says,”but that doesn’t bother us yet. We stick to our preparations and stay tuned:” In Ruhpolding they want to “run around the podium. We fully attack”.
The men’s programme on Friday still includes the relay and on Sunday the mass start. The women around Laura Dahlmeier start on Thursday with the singles over 15 km, on Saturday the relay and on Sunday also the mass start.