Norwegian chants to Germany and France: – Fantastic good

ALPE CERMIS (VG) TV personalities from German cross-country skiing create joy in the Norwegian cross-country camp. And so is France's success.

-It's fantastically good. Germany is a great sporting country and is very good at many sports. It's very important to get them back, says Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget after fourth place in the Tour de Ski to VG.

Harald Østberg Amundsen won the Tour ahead of Friedrich Moch, who had been Germany's first podium finish at the Tour since 2009. Hugo Lapalus of France finished third.

– You can see the commitment to biathlon in Germany, and hopefully we can have the same thing again in cross-country skiing. Ningate says he can do a lot for international attention, adding:

– When you see the facilities in Germany, how they work and the team around them at the World Cup… there's no reason why they can't achieve it. Now I think they are about to turn things around, I support them and we are happy with this match.

NRC He wrote about the fact that although the trend was negative for cross-country skiing viewership in many countries, it was more positive in Germany.

When Erik Valnes won the Tour de Ski stage on Saturday, 3.7 million in Germany must have watched the race on ARD, according to an overview posted by Aker Dæhlie coach Jostein Vinjerui on X.

Moch impressed at the Tour de Ski. But primarily on the women's side Germany showed strong development. And at the 2022 Olympics, they took home team sprint gold with Katharina Hennig and Viktoria Karl, who have now achieved a World Cup win each in just over a year.

– The team is good, we push each other. We took it step by step and became a little stronger. “It's ideal, we have a lot of young people to motivate,” says Karl.

– Are you a big star in Germany or how are things?

– Haha no. I think I'm a bigger star in Norway or Sweden.

• On the men's level, eight countries were on the podium this year: Norway, France, Finland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
• On the women's side, five countries stood on the podium: Sweden, Norway, USA, Germany and Finland
• In women's snowboarding, there were seven countries in the top ten: USA, Norway, Finland 2 times, Sweden 3 times, Latvia, Germany and France.
• On the men's side, there were six countries in the top ten in ski racing: 4 times Norway, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Austria.

– It's very good that so many people get on the podium. It's good for TV viewers, says Carl.

Erik Valnes admits it's “wonderful” to be seen by millions in Germany.

– It is important to have diversity in our sport. “It's fun to have such good diversity on the platform,” Valnes says.

– It has become a bit of a cliche that “Germany is big, and it is important for sport.” Now they have Much on the podium and the women have been doing well for a while. Bright spot?

– There will always be a Dario Cologne or a Tobias Angerer, but I hope that countries like Germany can benefit from the effect of having one at the top, build a team and develop more.

France also enjoyed a thrilling victory in the Tour de Ski with Lapalos taking the podium in the summary, while Lucas Chanavat won two stages and Jules Lapierre one.

– The French can climb and run quickly. We have to keep them away from what comes in between,” Ningate says.

– It is very good for cross-country skiing to have Central Europe on the podium. “The Norwegians are very difficult to beat,” Lapierre says after finishing the “Monsterbakken” one better.

In France, cross-country skiing is broadcast on Eurosport.

-Is it popular?

-It is very popular in some Alpine regions, but not very much. It's a very small sport in France. “That's why it's good for us to win sometimes, so we can make this sport more popular at home,” answers Lapierre.

Eric Meer Nossom is impressed by what the aliens showed on the disease-ridden ski tour.

– amazing! Obviously our job is to beat them, but I know how good the skaters are to beat us. I really admire what they do. They're small too, which is fantastically good.

– Does this happen only because of the decadence of Norway – Claybo, Kruger, Tonseth and others?

– If they were there, they are still there. I have no reason to believe that Kruger and Klapow are going to wreak havoc on Amundsen. What the people here offer on the tour is very good.