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Oberstdorf (dpa) - One thing is certain even before the first jump: The 69th Four Hills Tournament will be one of the most extraordinary editions in the history of the hill spectacle.
Empty rows instead of crowds, distance instead of party atmosphere is the corona-related motto before the ski jumping highlight around the turn of the year.
The German Press Agency answers the most important questions before the start in the Allgäu.
How does the tour work?
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Four stations, one overall winner: In the Four Hills Tournament, the results of the four competitions in Germany and Austria are added up.
If you want to win the tour and win the golden eagle on January 6th, you can hardly afford to make a mistake.
The competition mode differs in the tour from that in the World Cup.
Unlike there, there are 25 knockout duels in the first round of the tour.
The 25 winners and the five best losers (lucky losers) move into the finals of the 30 best jumpers.
At the beginning of each competition, 50 jumpers take part.
To determine the pairings for the duels, the result of the qualification is used.
The best of the qualification competes against the 50th, the second meets the jumper who finished 49th in the qualification.
The daily winners are determined in two rounds in which the points are added up.
Where do you jump?
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The tour traditionally starts in Oberstdorf and ends in Bischofshofen, Austria.
In between, the New Year's jump in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the competition on Bergisel in Innsbruck are on the program.
There are usually around 100,000 fans at the four stations.
This time, because of Corona, there are only a few photo figures that the organizers want to put up in the stands in Oberstdorf.
Who are the favorites?
The top favorite is the Norwegian overall leader Halvor Egner Granerud.
The 24-year-old has recently won the World Cup five times in a row and is the one to beat.
For example from Markus Eisenbichler: The Bavarian has already shown with two individual wins this season that he can defeat Granerud.
"Eisei", who also won the title at the German championships in October, has been jumping consistently at a very high level for some time.
He is the biggest candidate to succeed Sven Hannawald as the last German tour winner to date 19 years ago.
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A big stranger is ski flying world champion Karl Geiger, who after his quarantine due to a positive corona test is open as to whether and in what form he can start.
Another favorite is Kamil Stoch from Poland, who has already won the tour twice.
"He is on the way up," said national coach Stefan Horngacher.
"He's going to play a pretty big role on the tour."
Last year's winner Dawid Kubacki from Poland is also to be expected.
The Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi, who dominated two years ago, is clearly behind.
Where can I watch the tour on TV?
As in previous years, the broadcasts of the competitions and qualifications will also be shared between ARD and ZDF in 2020/21.
The ZDF reports from the opening competition on Tuesday in Oberstdorf and the final on January 6th in Bischofshofen.
ARD will broadcast the New Year's jump and the competition in Innsbruck on January 3rd.
All jumps and qualifications can also be seen on Eurosport.
What can the jumpers win?
The overall winner of the tour not only receives the golden eagle, but also a prize of 20,000 Swiss francs (approx. 18,447 euros).
The winners of the qualification competitions will be rewarded with 5000 euros.
In addition, the FIS World Federation pays its usual World Cup premiums for the individual competitions.
The winner of the day receives 10,000 francs (approx. 9224 euros), and there are also graduated bonuses for places two to 30.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201226-99-815498 / 2
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Homepage of the Four Hills Tournament
Dates for jumping in Oberstdorf
Dates for jumping in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Dates for jumping in Innsbruck
Dates for jumping in Bischofshofen
Stand in the overall World Cup
All tour winners
Tour result of the previous year
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