With a strong mileage, Denise Herrmann-Wick secures a sovereign victory in the pursuit race in Antholz. Hanna Kebinger was tenth.
Denise Hermann-Wick wins the pursuit race in Antholz with a strong performance. Two shooting errors and an impressive ski performance carried her to a sovereign victory in front of Lisa Vittozzi (+11 seconds/ 0 errors), who started the race in 13th place and Elvira Öberg (+17.2/ 2). Hanna Kebinger showed her best career performance and finished tenth.
Started the race as a pursuer
Denise Herrmann-Wick started the race 23 seconds behind. A second behind her: team colleague Janina Hettich-Walz, who lost touch shortly afterwards.
Hermann-Wick quickly conceded the Norwegian Marte Olsbu Røiseland and led the pursuit of the leading group Dorothea Wierer, Elvira Öberg, Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet. All five athletes cleaned the first shooting.
decision in the last shooting
A performance that only Wierer from the leading group could repeat in the second prone position – the rest missed once each. The Italian went into the third round with a 30-second lead, which she lost after her mistake in the first standing stage. A head-to-head race ensued.
Herrmann-Wick, Wierer and Olsbu Røiseland went into the final standing stage at the same time. The German kept her nerves there and was the only one of the top trio to make one mistake. Wierer and Olsbu Røiseland missed twice and were passed by Italy’s Vittozzi, who shot clean. Herrmann-Wick went into the final lap as the leader and was heading towards a secure victory at the World Cup in Antholz. Olsbu Røiseland was fifth behind Hanna Öberg, Wierer was seventh.
Herrmann-Wick: “It was woman against woman”
“It’s always so awesome to run here. The whole scenery, the mountain scenery: it was really great”Herrmann-Wick said after her victory on ZDF. “The last shooting was really cool. It was woman against woman, so I really had to keep to myself.” For the 34-year-old, after the sprint in Hochfilzen, it was the second World Cup win of the season and the tenth of her career.
Hanna Kebinger finished tenth with good shooting and just one penalty loop – her best World Cup result. “Just cool, I’m really happy. I just wanted to have fun at the races and see where it goes“, said Kebinger. Hettich-Walz ended up in 12th place with four missed shots. Sophia Schneider as 21st, Vanessa Voigt (25th) and Franziska Preuss (34th) missed the top 20.