Nordic station wagon
Styrian Franz-Josef Rehrl managed his next third place in the combined World Cup in Oberstdorf ahead of Johannes Lamparter and Stefan Rettenegger. After a superior jump victory and a 57 second lead in the 10 km cross-country skiing, Rehrl was caught on the home straight in a four-way battle by German Julian Schmid and Norwegian Jens Luras Oftebro. Lamparter, who had won twice in Seefeld on Saturday and before, also went away empty-handed in the sprint for victory.
Mixed feelings predominated at Rehrl due to the ultimately narrow victory. “It was really close. I was very confident on the hill today. I already knew in the first lap that it would be close. In the last corner I thought it could still work out,” said the 29-year-old, who ultimately missed his third World Cup victory by a second, in an ORF interview – he last won four years ago.
The six-time winner of the season, Lamparter, is still 101 points ahead of Schmid before the next competitions next weekend in Schonach. The youngster, spoiled by success, struggled with the narrowly unsuccessful outcome at the site of his World Cup triumph in 2021. “You have to congratulate the others – strong sprint to the finish, I wasn’t able to do it anymore, but it’s going on,” said Lamparter. All in all, it was a cool weekend, he confirmed.
Top team result
Three weeks before the World Cup, the ÖSV team again impressed in the Allgäu with a strong team performance. In addition to the trio of Rehrl, Lamparter and Rettenegger, Martin Fritz (8th) and Mario Seidl (9th) also made it into the top ten.
The German Olympic champion Vinzenz Geiger also missed the second Oberstdorf competition because of an infection. World Cup title defender Jarl Magnus Riiber from Norway was also not at the start.
