In front of 30,000 roaring fans, the World Championship 4 x 10km men's relay got underway this morning in Oberstdorf, Germany.
 punishing the field on the tough climbs and ending their 10km effort a whopping 58.8 seconds ahead of Fulvio Valbusa of Italy. Valbusa was at the front of a tight chase pack that included Germany (Andreas Schluetter), France (Vincent Vittoz), and just trailing off the back by a few seconds, Mikhail Botvinov of Austria. Team USA had dropped to 11th, over a minute and a half behind the chase group.</p>
<p>Standings At Second Exchange:</p>
<p>1 1 Norway NOR *12:30:00 50:03.0 0.0<br />
2 4 Russia RUS *12:30:00 50:03.5 +0.5<br />
3 10 Italy ITA *12:30:00 51:01.8 +58.8<br />
4 2 Germany GER *12:30:00 51:03.7 +1:00.7<br />
5 11 France FRA *12:30:00 51:03.9 +1:00.9<br />
6 16 Austria AUT *12:30:00 51:08.1 +1:05.1<br />
7 8 Estonia EST *12:30:00 51:48.5 +1:45.5<br />
8 3 Sweden SWE *12:30:00 52:15.3 +2:12.3<br />
9 7 Czech Republic CZE *12:30:00 52:15.6 +2:12.6<br />
10 13 Kazakhstan KAZ *12:30:00 52:33.7 +2:30.7<br />
11 12 United States USA *12:30:00 52:37.1 +2:34.1<br />
12 15 Canada CAN *12:30:00 53:00.8 +2:57.8<br />
13 9 Japan JPN *12:30:00 53:56.1 +3:53.1<br />
14 6 Finland FIN *12:30:00 54:04.2 +4:01.2<br />
15 14 Ukraine UKR *12:30:00 55:06.3 +5:03.3<br />
16 5 Switzerland SUI *12:30:00 55:45.3 +5:42.3<br />
17 17 China CHN *12:30:00 56:27.5 +6:24.5 </p>
<p>Back at the front, it was biathlete Lars Berger who took the tag from Norway's Frode Estil to begin the third leg alongside Evgenji Dementiev of Russia. The front two skiers held on to most of the lead that they started with, Berger putting on a final burst to tag off to Tore Ruud Hofstad with a 2.7 second gap to Russia. Meanwhile, the chase group had split apart. Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer skied the fastest of anyone on the third leg, and it appeared as if the medals might already be decided when he came into the stadium 39.3 seconds ahead of the closest pursuer, Germany (Tobias Angerer). France and Austria were out. Notably, Andrew Johnson skied a great leg for the US team, giving away only about 37 seconds to the leaders in 10km.</p>
<p>Standings At Third Exchange:</p>
<p>1 1 Norway NOR *12:30:00 1:14:05.3 0.0<br />
2 4 Russia RUS *12:30:00 1:14:08.0 +2.7<br />
3 10 Italy ITA *12:30:00 1:15:01.6 +56.3<br />
4 2 Germany GER *12:30:00 1:15:40.9 +1:35.6<br />
5 11 France FRA *12:30:00 1:16:00.5 +1:55.2<br />
6 16 Austria AUT *12:30:00 1:16:20.7 +2:15.4<br />
7 7 Czech Republic CZE *12:30:00 1:17:03.5 +2:58.2<br />
8 8 Estonia EST *12:30:00 1:17:03.9 +2:58.6<br />
9 13 Kazakhstan KAZ *12:30:00 1:17:15.4 +3:10.1<br />
10 12 United States USA *12:30:00 1:17:16.4 +3:11.1<br />
11 3 Sweden SWE *12:30:00 1:17:45.7 +3:40.4<br />
12 15 Canada CAN *12:30:00 1:19:09.0 +5:03.7<br />
13 6 Finland FIN *12:30:00 1:19:11.9 +5:06.6<br />
14 9 Japan JPN *12:30:00 1:19:43.4 +5:38.1<br />
15 14 Ukraine UKR *12:30:00 1:20:58.0 +6:52.7 </p>
<p><BR><center><img decoding=)
Norwegians Win Worlds Relay, Teichmann Saves The Day For Germany
FasterSkierFebruary 24, 2005
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