Athlete of the Week: Vinzenz Geiger (GER)

It is a rare thing to see a new star rise - but this is exactly what spectators might have witnessed in Val di Fiemme on the past weekend. A good weekend for the German team, yes, with Olympic and World Champion Johannes Rydzek returning full force a claiming a podium result on each of the three consecutive days.

But maybe even more so for his teammate Vinzenz Geiger, who did not only absolutely hold his own in the Team Sprint against known sprint prodigies Jørgen Graabak and Fabian Rießle but also claimed his very first World Cup victory on the following day.

Hailing from Oberstdorf and the same ski club as Johannes Rydzek, Geiger is the more quiet and introvert anti pole to the outgoing and flamboyant Rydzek but both of them mean business on the track. Geiger’s skills on the skinny skis brought him to a first podium result in Ramsau am Dachstein in 2016, a feat he has repeated twice since, collecting second places in Seefeld and Lahti in the past winter.

With his jumping shape on the rise, Geiger has more and more turned into one of these athletes you need to watch on the track. The race on the past Saturday was his masterpiece. Working together with Rydzek to keep the pursuing athletes at bay was well enough but to stay with an Olympic and World Champion known for his cross-country prowess when he tries to shake you and then in turn set a stone-cold counterattack with an incredible frequency on the following uphill takes endurance, skill and bravery - three things Geiger seems to abound with.

If Geiger manages to process this victory and settle into this newfound role of being able to match the very best - on the hill and in the race, there will be many more stories to tell about the 21-year-old in the years to come.