Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) made an impressive comeback to the Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country in Davos (SUI) last weekend. In her first World Cup competition since October, she returned straight to the top, claiming victory ahead of Vibeke Skofterud (NOR). Marit Bjoergen (NOR) kept her overall World Cup lead despite her illness-related absence.
In the excitingly tight men's race, Alex Teichmann (GER) again showed his strength in the final kilometers. 26-year-old Sami Jauhojaervi (FIN) took third, his first podium place ever. For Teichmann, it was the second World Cup victory this season and the third podium place in as many distance races which helped him reclaim the overall World Cup leader's yellow bib from Lukas Bauer (CZE). In the ladies’ relay, Norway took the honors ahead of Germany while in the men’s competition, the team from the Czech Republic claimed their first-ever World Cup relay win as the top eight teams finished within 7 seconds. Norway continues to lead the Nations’ Cup as the World Cup is scheduled to continue in Rybinsk (RUS) next weekend.
Team CZE (Photo: NordicFocus)
In the e.on Ruhrgas FIS World Cup Ski Jumping in Trondheim, Thomas Morgenstern from Austria made it three from three. After winning on Saturday, he took another clear victory on Sunday as Team Austria swept the podium. On Saturday, Tom Hilde (NOR) was able to break through the Austrian dominance in taking 3rd behind Morgenstern and Gregor Schlierenzauer. Morgenstern now leads the overall World Cup rankings with the maximum 300 of 300 possible points after three competitions.
The Warsteiner FIS World Cup Nordic Combined also continued in Trondheim. Compared with the weather challenges in the last two years, the conditions were excellent this time around. In the individual Gundersen event, Bill Demong (USA) recorded his third World Cup victory. Sunday’s sprint competition saw yet another tight competition in which Christoph Bieler (AUT) turned out to be the strongest in the final sprint. Ronny Ackermann (GER), who collected a second and a fifth place in Trondheim, leads the overall World Cup as the tour moves to Ramsau (AUT) next.