Cross‑country — Rydzek in Olympic shape, German men cause concern

Stand: 05.01.2026 16:38 Uhr

The German cross‑country team had a difficult Tour de Ski. One month before the 2026 Olympics a number of question marks remain for the DSV team.

By Johannes Kirchmeier

Two decisions at this Tour de Ski — at the beginning and at the end — illustrate the situation for the German cross‑country skiers one month before the Olympic Winter Games. On the first day, Sunday 28 December, the sprint in Toblach: Allgäu native Coletta Rydzek came into the final straight as third and celebrated a strong second place. The next day she defended a podium position in the overall standings.

And then on the final day a week later Rydzek was no longer part of the race — she withdrew as a precaution with a “dry throat”. Despite that the women finished strongly, with U23 world champion Helen Hoffmann placing tenth on the Alpe Cermis in Val di Fiemme, and several other top placings gave the women a good Tour‑de‑Ski balance. The German men around last season’s top athlete Friedrich Moch, however, were a complete disappointment.

German men around Moch disappoint at Tour de Ski

While Norway’s cross‑country giant Johannes Høsflot Klæbo celebrated his fifth Tour‑de‑Ski triumph on Sunday afternoon, Moch was still trudging up the climb — a fitting image of disappointment one month before the Olympics. “He decided to stay in competitive mode. As of today we can say it was the wrong decision,” said national coach Peter Schlickenrieder after Moch’s 46th place on the day.

“At the end of the day we will have to judge it after the Olympics. If he becomes Olympic champion, everyone will say: good, we did it right,” Schlickenrieder added. Unlike Moch, several women withdrew early after minor signs of illness — besides Rydzek also Katharina Hennig Dotzler and Pia Fink — in order to be fit for the Olympics.

Question marks ahead of Milan–Cortina 2026

The men’s problems this winter are particularly awkward because the Tour de Ski is not the season’s ultimate goal. One month before the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, questions remain about the men’s DSV squad. Moch has performed well on the Alpe Cermis in the past: four years ago he stormed onto the podium there, Lucas Bögl was fourth. Moch added a second place in 2024 and third place in 2025 — now he finished 46th. Bögl skipped the Italian stage this time; he hasn’t been right in form this season anyway.

Notz and Stölben provide faint hope

The performances of Rydzek, Hoffmann and Moch also reflect this Olympic season overall: the women are convincing despite Victoria Carl’s suspension for a positive clenbuterol test and are hitting Olympic standards one after another. The men? So far only Florian Notz and Jan Stölben have achieved the qualification standard; it’s unclear whether others will reach it, with only two World Cup stops scheduled in Oberhof (mid‑January) and Goms (end of January).

The steady Notz (Tour 26th) and sprinter Stölben — who on Saturday became the first German in nine years to reach a sprint final — were the lights in the DSV men’s team. But unlike Moch they were not originally counted among possible Olympic medal contenders.

Can Friedrich Moch still reach the Olympic standard?

For 25‑year‑old Moch the question whether he can still obtain the Olympic standard (twice top‑15, once top‑8) is surprising: so far he has not produced a top‑15 result. On the final Tour de Ski stage he suffered not only from lack of form but also a broken ski, so what remains is admiration for his will to finish the Tour despite setbacks. “Actually I feel good and have always shown good races here,” Moch had said before the final stage.

Carl remains suspended after positive doping test

Coach Schlickenrieder also cannot plan with last year’s strongest German, Victoria Carl: she remains suspended until after the Olympic Games following a positive clenbuterol test at the end of last season. Her absence, however, affects the women less because of the strong form of the rest of the squad.

Now the question for the women is how they will recover from the Tour de Ski withdrawals and their minor illnesses. They still have a month to get completely fit.

Will Rydzek/Gimmler replace Carl and Hennig Dotzler?

Sprinter Laura Gimmler skipped the Tour de Ski and ideally will add depth to the team; together with Rydzek she could be one of the few medal candidates. Katharina Hennig Dotzler, who has only recently fulfilled the Olympic standard after a difficult start to the season, could also be part of that. In 2022 she won Olympic team sprint gold together with Carl.

After this season’s performances it looks as if the Oberstdorf sprinters Rydzek and Gimmler could form a strong German Olympic sprint duo. Who will run in that event will likely be decided on site at the Olympics. One thing is clear: Schlickenrieder would gladly swap the women’s small problems for the men’s — and the Tour de Ski has made that point vividly.

Related topics: Langlauf (cross‑country), Tour de Ski