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- With a grand finale, Nadine Fähndrich leads the Swiss women to a sprint victory in Dresden.
- For the central Swiss, it is the second win in 24 hours.
- For men, Switzerland finished fifth in Russia’s victory.
Nadine Fähndrich and Laurien van der Graaff know how to seize the opportunity. On Saturday, in the absence of cross-country skiers from Norway, Sweden and Finland, Faehndrich celebrated his first World Cup victory in the individual sprint and Van der Graaff was fifth.
On Sunday the two worked together in the team sprint and again with great success. Against Russia I and Slovenia they achieved the 1st World Cup victory for a Swiss speed duo.
Faehndrich fights Neprjajewa
The master builder for this coup was Fähndrich. After Van der Graaff opened a gap with the Russians in their sixth and final replacement, Faehndrich took over, about 3 seconds behind.
But the 25-year-old managed to close this gap on the short, flat lap. Even more: down the stretch, Fähndrich Natalja Neprjajewa, who was third Olympian in the 2018 season, even raced and secured victory for Switzerland.
Van der Graaff and the good position
«I felt very good and I saw that Natalja is already a little tired. That’s why I was able to catch up a lot, “said Fähndrich happily at the end. Van der Graaff knew that his teammate could do anything:” I tried everything to put Nadine in a good position. She is currently the strongest. “
In the shadow of Fähndrich / Van der Graaff, Switzerland II also showed good competition with Alina Meier and Lea Fischer, who was rewarded with sixth place.
Switzerland ranked fifth among men
Unlike the women, the men’s victory went to Russia. Gleb Retiwych and Alexander Bolschunow prevailed just ahead of teams France I and Italy I. With some distance, Switzerland I (Roman Schaad / Jovian Hediger) lost the sprint for 4th place to France II.
