Overall World Cup victory 2018/19 on the line in Klingenthal

The first of two more Viessmann FIS Nordic Combined weekends before the World Championships in Seefeld is coming up at the German venue of Klingenthal - and with a large, difficult jumping hill and a demanding cross-country track with twists and turns, the athletes will have to put on their best moves to entertain the enthusiastic crowd that comes out to support their German athletes and the rest of the field.

Even though the Saxon superhero Eric Frenzel unfortunately has to sit the weekend out due to an influenzal infection, his teammates around last year’s double Klingenthal winner Fabian Rießle and Olympic Champion Johannes Rydzek will do their best to defend the German honour and delight the home crowd.

World Cup leader Jarl Magnus Riiber has a different agenda. In the lead with 357 points, the Norwegian can make his very first overall World Cup victory a reality in Klingenthal, if his closest pursuer Johannes Rydzek does not step up his game considerably. Including Klingenthal, a maximum of 600 World Cup points are still to be distributed until the end of the season, 200 of them this weekend.

With the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Seefeld approaching fast, some of the other top stars and teams are taking timeouts to train, as the Italian and Finnish squads did last week. This weekend, the French team with new head coach Etienne Gouy will regroup in training in a last bid to get in shape for Seefeld 2019 and the Japanese team flew eastwards to recharge their batteries on home soil.

The Norwegian championship athletes Espen Bjørnstad, Jan Schmid, Magnus Krog and Jørgen Graabak are doing dedicated Seefeld 2019 training as well, while Nordic Combined TRIPLE winner Mario Seidl is still recuperating from the feverish cold, which took him out of the World Cup business last week.

Instead, both freshly-minted Junior World Champions, Julian Schmid (GER) and Johannes Lamparter (AUT) will be on start in Klingenthal, as will be Continental Cup serial winner Leif Torbjørn Næsvold (NOR) and his successful teammates Harald Riiber and also veteran Magnus Moan is making the trip to Klingenthal.

In spite of fighting huge amounts of snow, the organisers have prepared a perfect venue, which might showcase the first big decision of the winter.

The programme (local times = CET)
Timetable subject to change!

Friday, 01.02.
14:00 Official cross-country training
16:00 SJ HS 140 Official Training
18:00 Provisional Competition Round/Qualification HS 140

Saturday, 02.02.
11:45 Trial Round HS 140
12:55 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN Competition Round HS 140 
15:00 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN 10 km cross-country race

Sunday, 03.02.
11:00 Qualification HS 140
12:15 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN Competition Round HS 140 
15:00 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN 10 km cross-country race

Quick Facts:
HILL
Vogtlandarena
HS 140

TRACK
Vogtlandarena
2 km free-technique loop
Total climb: 60 metres
Maximum climb: 31 metres
Height Difference: 37 metres

2017/18 PODIUM

IG I: 1. Fabian Rießle (GER), 2. Eero Hirvonen (FIN), 3. Akito Watabe (JPN)
IG II: 1. Fabian Rießle (GER), 2. Johannes Rydzek (GER), 3. Akito Watabe (JPN)