Biathlete Philipp Nawrath was unable to defend the yellow jersey of the overall World Cup leader. In the sprint success of the flawless Norwegian Tarjei Bö in Hochfilzen, Austria, the 30-year-old Bavarian had to settle for 34th place after three penalty laps.
Nawrath had to give up the overall lead to the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson, who sprinted to third place with one mistake. The Norwegian Sturla Holm Laegreid came second (0 errors).
“It’s a shame to have to give up the jersey. But you still have the chance to attack and show good races again,” said Nawrath. Already on Saturday he has the opportunity to strike back in the pursuit.
Benedikt Doll narrowly missed the podium after a mistake in the standing position. He came seventh. Johannes Kühn rounded off the decent team result in ninth place. Teammate Justus Strelow was the only German who made no mistakes, but was significantly slower on the cross-country ski trail than the fastest competitors. The Saxon finished the 10 kilometer race in 15th place. After his illness, Roman Rees (2) returned in 31st place and David Zobel (2) ended up in 26th place.
