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The German season with Albert Kuchler, Janosch Brugger, Jonas Dobler and Friedrich Moch
Photo:
IMAGO/PETTER ARVIDSON / IMAGO/Bildbyran
The German cross-country relay surprisingly won the bronze medal at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica.
With Albert Kuchler, Janosch Brugger, Jonas Dobler and Friedrich Moch, the German quartet was only beaten by the dominant Norwegians and Finland over 4x10 kilometers on Friday.
Above all Dobler and anchor Moch stood out in the team of team manager Peter Schlickenrieder.
The women's relay had won silver just a day earlier, before that there had been no German cross-country skiing medal at a World Cup for almost twelve years.
It is the twelfth medal at the Nordic World Ski Championships for the German Ski Association.
Kuchler got off to a strong start on the demanding track and stayed in the peloton, after which Brugger had big problems and fell back to seventh place, 18 seconds behind.
But first Dobler fought his way back and closed the gap to the chasing group, then the 22-year-old Moch came and prevailed against the Frenchman Jules Lapierre in the final sprint.
"I knew that I was faster than Lapierre in the sprint, and I did that well," said Moch afterwards.
First relay medal for men since 2009
While the women were able to win gold in the team sprint and silver in the relay at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, it is by far the greatest success for the men in the era of team boss Schlickenrieder.
The men's last relay medal at a major event was at the 2009 World Championships, when there was also bronze in the relay.
Meanwhile, the Norwegian Festival in Planica continues with the overwhelming success of the season.
All five decisions in the cross-country men went to the North Europeans around Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, who now has nine World Championship gold medals like the legend Björn Dählie.
In addition to Klaebo, the squadron also included Hans Christer Holund, Paal Golberg and Simen Hegstad Krüger.
Krüger and Klaebo each won three gold medals in the title fights in Planica.
kjo/dpa/sid
