Cross-country skiing Olympic champions Katharina Hennig and Victoria Karl narrowly missed out on another podium finish at the World Cup opener in Canmore, Canada.
In Friday's tough mass start race over 15km of freestyle, Hennig finished tenth as the best German starter, while Carl finished twelfth – but both have weathered the chaos of the journey well.
American Jesse Diggins took his fifth win of the season in the “Half Home Game” in North America, extending his lead in the overall World Cup.
In the small town west of Calgary, Frenchman Delphine Claudel finished 2.6 seconds ahead, with Norway's Heidi Weng third (+3.3).
Baggage confusion disrupts German production
Hennig was 15.0 seconds behind the first large chasing group. He ran a gutsy race, as did Carl (+16.6) who was in the lead halfway through the race.
Hennig and Karl have both made it to the podium twice this winter, and Karl celebrated his first World Cup win in Trondheim in December.
A single-start race over 10km was originally scheduled for Friday in Canmore. However, as the timing technology was delivered to Canada late, the world association FIS switched to mass start.
The German team's luggage also arrived late, so Hennig and Co initially had to make jogging a training plan.
Sprints follow in Canmore on Saturday, followed by mass start races over 20 kilometers in classic style on Sunday.
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