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 src=)
Tore Ruud Hofstad. Photo By Trond Harald Sand.
Heading out onto the fourth and final leg, Tore Ruud Hofstad immediately put the hammer down and skied away from Russia's Nikolai Bolchakov, who was trailing by 17.3 seconds at the 4.8km mark. Christian Zorzi of Italy remained in third, about 56 seconds behind Norway, and Axel Teichmann of Germany seemed unable to do anything about the 37-second gap up to bronze-medal position.
6.1km: Norway clear off the front, Russia 28 seconds back, Italy +56, Germany +1:27. Too bad for Germany, it looks like they will finish yet another race without a medal in their own World Championships. The only question is, can Zorzi catch the fading Russian skier and move Italy up into silver medal position?
8.1km: Norway has the gold wrapped up for sure. Bolchakov of Russia still fading at +43.3, with Zorzi still 15 seconds behind him…can he close it? But wait, Teichmann of Germany has suddenly made up 20 SECONDS and is skiing only 11.2 seconds behind Italy! Could he save the day for Germany and overtake Zorzi for the bronze medal? Or will Zorzi and Teichmann both get ahead of Russia and battle for silver?
9.4km: Teichmann has pummeled Zorzi who now trails by 11.2 seconds. But with only 600 meters to go, does Teichmann still have enough energy to close down another 5.7 seconds to second-place Russia? This is going to be close…
FINISH: Tore Ruud Hofstad cruises in with plenty of time to celebrate yet another gold medal for the Norwegian relay team. And it has come down to a sprint finish between Teichmann and Bolchakov; Germany and Russia, with Italy far back in fourth. Bolchakov has no chance as Teichmann powers ahead in the final 200 meters in front of 30,000 ecstatic fans. After starting the final 10km leg over a minute and a half behind Russia, Axel Teichmann fought his way up to the silver medal!
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