Tour de Ski: German men sweep classical race

By Published On: January 3rd, 2007Comments Off on Tour de Ski: German men sweep classical race

Franz Goering led a top-three sweep for Germany in the men's World Cup 15-kilometer classical race Wednesday on the inaugural cross-country Tour de Ski.

OBERSTDORF, Germany — Franz Goering led a top-three sweep for Germany in the men's World Cup 15-kilometer classical race Wednesday on the inaugural cross-country Tour de Ski.
    Goering covered the tough conditions in 39 minutes, 40.7 seconds, finishing strongly to beat Rene Sommerfeldt by 13.3 seconds. Tobias Angerer was third, 30 seconds back, but took the overall lead.  
    Simen Oestensen of Norway, who finished 18th, dropped to second overall in the tour rankings.  
    The Tour de Ski was scheduled to hold eight races in 10 days, but the opening two — in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic — were canceled due to insufficient snow. The tour began in Munich on Dec. 31. The overall time winner of the six-race series will earn 400 World Cup points.  
    Petra Majdic of Slovenia won the women's World Cup 10-kilometer classical after finishing in 28:44.8 to beat Kristin Steira of Norway by 27.2 seconds. Steira still leads overall after three of six races. Majdic moved up to second after her second win of the season.
    Fresh snow overnight and subfreezing temperature provided for difficult conditions, but Majdic had led by nine seconds at the 6.8-kilometer mark.
    ''I had prefect skis today and I enjoyed every lap — I was very relaxed,'' Majdic said.
    Virpi Kuitunen of Finland was third, 33.8 seconds back.
    Three top contenders dropped out of the tour because of illness — Axel Teichmann of Germany, Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeseth of Norway and Kristina Smigun of Estonia.


World Cup cross-country ski results
OBERSTDORF, Germany —  Results Wednesday from a World Cup cross-country ski meet, the third stop of the Tour de Ski:

Women
10 kilometers classical

1. Petra Majdic, Slovenia, 28 minutes, 44.8 seconds.
2. Kristin Steira, Norway, 27.2 seconds behind.
3. Virpi Kuitunen, Finland, 33.8.
4. Valentina Shevchenko, Ukraine, 37.1.
5. Aino Kaisa Saarinen, Finland, 37.9.
6. Vibeke Skofterud, Norway, 38.3.
7. Marianna Longa, Italy, 54.8.
8. Viola Bauer, Germany, 56.0.
9. Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle, Germany, 59.5.
10. Kamila Rajdlova, Czech Republic, 1:04.2.

Tour de Ski rankings
(After 3 of 6 events)

1. Kristin Steira, Norway, 1:00:05.9.
2. Petra Majdic, Slovenia, 20.4 behind.
3. Aino Kaisa Saarinen, Finland, 23.2.
4. Virpi Kuitunen, Finland, 26.4.
5. Valentina Shevchenko, Ukraine, 27.9.
6. Vibeke Skofterud, Norway, 41.5.
7. Marit Bjoergen, Norwway, 43.9.
8. Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle, Germany, 52.3.
9. Marianna Longa, Italy, 52.7.
10. Olga Savialova, Russia, 1:06.3.

Men
15 kilometers classical

1. Franz Goering, Germany, 39 minutes, 40.7 seconds.
2. Rene Sommerfeldt, Germany, 13.3 seconds behind.
3. Tobias Angerer, Germany, 30.0.
4. Eldar Ronning, Norway, 30.4.
5. Martin Bajcicak, Slovakia, 41.2.
6. Reto Burgermeister, Switzerland, 50.0.
7. Sami Jauhojarvi, Finland, 50.6.
8. Petter Northug, Norway, 51.2.
9. Mats Larsson, Sweden, 52.5.
10. Jean-Marc Gaillard, France, 52.9.

Tour de Ski rankings
(After 3 of 6 events)

1. Tobias Angerer, Germany, 1:32:30.3.
2. Simen Oestensen, Norway, 17.0 behind.
3. Franz Goering, Germany, 30.7.
4. Evgenji Dementiev, Russia, 35.4.
5. Petter Northug, Norway, 42.8.
6. Vincent Vittoz, France, 44.9.
7. Jens Filbrich, Germany, 1:01.7.
8. Sergej Shiriaev, Russia, 1:01.7.
9. Christian Hoffmann, Austria, 1:02.3.
10. Sami Jauhojarvi, Finland, 1:03.3.

Share This Article

About the Author: Pete Rugh