Frenzel returns to winning ways in Oberstdorf
Aug 31, 2018·Nordic Combined
He came, he saw, he conquered. Eric Frenzel has returned to his winning ways in Oberstdorf and set his first Summer Grand Prix victory of 2017. He beat local hero Johannes Rydzek by 34.5 seconds. Overall leader Mario Seidl defended his yellow bib with the third place, finishing 36 seconds after Frenzel.
Frenzel gained the pole position for the race after the winner of the jumping round, Harald Riiber, had to be disqualified due to a non-rule conforming suit. So Frenzel was the first to go out on the 10 km track, which was packed with spectators. A jump of 132 metres (141.6 p.) brought Frenzel a head start of 6 seconds on Japanese Takehiro Watanabe, who showed a jump of 130 m (140.2 p.). Mario Seidl started from the third place after a jump of 129.5 metres had him start eight seconds behind Frenzel.
Johannes Rydzek’s first competition jump of the summer carried him to a distance of 132 metres, which meant the intermediate fifth position and 16 seconds to make up. Also in the jumping top ten were Akito Watabe on rank four, Maxime Laheurte on six and Portyk, Muhlethaler, Kato and Bjørnstad on ranks seven to ten.
In the race, Eric Frenzel started fast but Johannes Rydzek even faster. After one lap of 1.8 km, he had reduced his time behind to seven seconds, at 3.6 km, he was with Frenzel with the pursuers Watabe, Seidl, Portyk and Laheurte around four seconds back. At the halfway point of the race, the advantage of Frenzel and Rydzek had grown to 20 seconds but one lap later, Rydzek was feeling the effects of the high speed. The local hero started to lose ground on an irresistible Frenzel, who extended his lead to over half a minute at the finish line.
At the end, Rydzek had to be happy not to be taken by Mario Seidl. Tomas Portyk shone with another great Czech result on rank four, a personal best. Akito Watabe ended up on the fifth place, Maxime Laheurte kept his sixth place from the ski jumping round. Fabian Rießle, Miroslav Dvorak, Björn Kircheisen and Kristjan Ilves completed the Top Ten.
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