World Cup in Anterselva
Biathletes around Doll want to “take a breath” before the World Cup dress rehearsal
“In Antholz I would like to be fully motivated again,” said Benedikt Doll. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
After three World Cup races in front of a home crowd, the German biathletes are heading to the last World Cup before the World Championships at home. Before Antholz it is time to regenerate in order to be fully motivated at the start.
After the home World Cup in Ruhpolding, the German biathletes need to gather their strength before the World Cup dress rehearsal in Antholz.
“I now have four days off and I’m trying to relax a bit and catch some air,” said Benedikt Doll, who finished 15th in the final mass start in Ruhpolding on Sunday after five shooting errors. “It’s been a lot of stress the last few days. In Antholz I want to be fully motivated again,” said the 32-year-old. In order to keep the travel stress low, the native of the Black Forest does not travel back home, but directly to Italy.
Meanwhile, teammate Roman Rees makes a stopover. “I’m going home first and then I’ll travel to Antholz on Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s the third week again and it’s about being fresh again and ready to go,” said the 29-year-old. For Justus Strelow, who was the best German in eighth place in the mass start in front of his home crowd, it means: “Feet up, regenerate and get ready for the next races in Antholz. They will be hard again and you have to use every second to regenerate. ”
In Antholz, the men’s last sprint before the home World Championships in Oberhof (February 8th to 19th) is on Friday (2.30 p.m. / ZDF and Eurosport). After a pursuit race on Saturday and a relay competition on Sunday, the German team will then go to Ridnaun to prepare for the World Championships. The preparation in Ruhpolding was also up for debate. However, due to the uncertain snow conditions, the German Ski Association decided in favor of South Tyrol.