The Biathlon World Cup in Pokljuka is in the starting blocks.
The German mixed relay kicks off.
We accompany the race in the live ticker.
The Biathlon World Championships will take place from February 10 to 21 in Pokljuka, Slovenia.
The start is the mixed relay over 4x7.5 km.
We follow the race on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the live ticker.
Erik Lesser, Arnd Peiffer, Denise Herrmann and Franziska Preuß go on a medal hunt together.
>>> UPDATE <<<
Round 2/12:
The favored Norwegians are in the lead, but Lesser is only ten seconds behind for Germany.
Everything is still there.
The snowfalls in Pokljuka are now getting heavier.
First shooting:
Lesser starts with a mistake, but clears the remaining targets and only has to reload once.
Go on.
Round 1/12:
Lesser is in the front field, it looks very fluid.
The runners have to cope with many small climbs and descents.
Start
: Erik Lesser starts for the German DSV team.
The starting runner can lay the foundation for a medal.
Update from February 10, 2:54 p.m.:
The German biathlon team starts today in the World Cup in Pokljuka.
With a medal, the ski hunters could gain the necessary self-confidence for the entire competition.
The DSV team has a top line-up.
In a few minutes you can be on the trail.
First report from February 9th:
Pokljuka - The Biathlon World Cup in Pokljuka begins.
The German ski hunters are in the starting blocks.
The mixed race kicks off.
Biathlon World Cup in live ticker: Mixed relay starts in Pokljuka medal hunt
A medal in the mixed relay on Wednesday should be the initial spark for fantastic world championships.
“If the beginning works, it's easier to continue,” Denise Hermann told SID: “The podium is of course always our goal.
We don't want to make life easy for the competition.
We are all in a good mood and will fully attack. "
The conditions are excellent.
With Erik Lesser, Arnd Peiffer, Herrmann and Franziska Preuß, the German Ski Association can start off with its supposedly strongest line-up.
Peiffer, Herrmann and Preuss were already part of the relay that missed a first medal last year at the World Championships in Antholz by finishing fourth.
Lesser replaces the last runner at the time, Benedikt Doll - for good reason.
Biathlon World Cup in the live ticker: Mixed relay in Pokljuka - first the men, then the women
For the first time, the men will start in the mixed race over 4x7.5 km at a World Cup.
It is only logical that Lesser, with his many years of experience as a starting runner in the men's relay, was preferred to Doll and, at the age of 32, made his World Cup premiere in this competition.
The new format could well suit the German team.
After all, Preuss recently impressed several times in the last position in the women's relay, while the men repeatedly gave up podium places in the end.
Top favorites, however, are the Norwegians, who dominate everything in the World Cup, and France, Sweden and Russia are also highly rated.
Biathlon World Cup in the live ticker: Schempp believes in the DSV quartet
At last year's World Cup, the Germans surprisingly collected five medals, four of them in silver.
Now Peiffer, Preuss and Co. enjoy the role of outsiders again - with potential to surprise.
Despite the dominance of the Norwegians, the DSV ski hunters are starting from the point of view of the recently retired ex-world champion Simon Schempp "not without hope".
"Especially at a World Cup, there are always surprises," said the 32-year-old in an interview with
Münchner Merkur
and
tz
: "A lot is possible." The German athletes get the necessary serenity surrounded by goats, rabbits and one another little pony on an old farm in Bled, around 20 kilometers from Pokljuka.
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