Difficult route, soft conditions – the start of the World Cup season demanded everything from the ski hunters on Tuesday. Austria’s five-man team for the 20-kilometer individual competition was led by veteran Simon Eder in Kontiolahti, Finland. The 39-year-old from Salzburg was the clear number 1 last winter and shot clean in the two prone stages, earning one ticket in the first standing stage and two in the second the Pinzgauer finished 33rd, 4:48.1 minutes behind the best time.
Eder’s colleagues were even further behind: David Komatz (2 errors/+4:49) was 34th, Patrick Jakob (2/+5:02.1) 39th, Harald Lemmerer (3/+6:18.1) 60th .and Felix Leitner (5/+6:33.5) 63.