German team was struck by illness during Tour de Ski. At the upcoming World Cup weekend in Otepää the German national coach Jochen Behle will again have available almost the complete team.
On the ladies' side Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle returns to World Cup racing. Sachenbacher-Stehle competed at the World Cup last time in Davos having scored 44th place in sprint free.In Otepää she will start at 10 km Classic and will be accompanied by compatriots Stefi Böhler and Katrin Zeller.
Monique Siegel and Sandra Ringwald will take the Saturday's race as a warm up for the Junior / U23 World Championships that takes place in Otepää. For Sunday's sprint Classic Hana Kolb, Lucia Anger and Denise Hermann will be at the start of the qualifier.
"I'm happy that after illnesses, which struck many of our athletes we're coming to Otepää almost in full strength," said Germany's coach Jochen Behle who is realistic about results he can expect from his athletes. "In Otepää we cannot expect from the athletes that have been ill any highlight results," explains Behle.
On the men's side Behle can rely on experienced trio Tobias Angerer, Jens Filbrich and Axel Teichmann. German squad for 15 km classic will be rounded out with Hannes Dotzler, Andy Kühne and Tim Tscharnke. In sprint Sebastian Eisenlauer, Daniel Heun, Axel Teichmann, Tim Tscharnke and Josef Wenzl will do their best to get in top 30.
World Championships in sight
Already eight German athletes have qualified for the World Championships in Oslo. Behle and his coaching staff reserved the right to pickup more athletes for Oslo. "This year we have had exceptional situation. With athletes such as Sachenbacher-Stehle, Angerer, Göring or Kolb we know what they are capable of. Therefore we will not set any hard criteria but leave the decision open on how athletes perform at training camps. We will then decide who will get a World Champs ticket," explained Behle.
Training camp in Toblach
Franz Göring, Nicole Fessel and Tom Reichelt will skip the World Cup weekend in Otepää and will go instead for a training camp in Toblach on Friday. Jochen Behle will join the trio with Tobias Angerer, Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle, Stefi Böhler and Katrin Zeller after the Estonian weekend. German team plans to stay and train in Toblach until February 2 when they are to travel to Rybinsk.
