Katharina Hennig fought against the drizzle in Oberstdorf, caught up second by second, but it wasn't enough for a really big throw.

Cheered on by her parents and siblings, the Olympic cross-country skiing champion once again confirmed her top form with sixth place in the first home race of the World Cup winter.

For the hoped-for first German podium in a home World Cup since 2013, however, it was not enough in the Allgäu.

Water in the track made it difficult to race on the already narrow strip of artificial snow in many places, and Hennig also had to dodge the ten kilometers again and again.

“Nevertheless: I can be satisfied with a top six result.

It wasn't easy today," said Hennig, who improved one place to fifth in the overall standings after three of seven stages, on ARD: "That's a great starting position."

In the victory of the Swede Frida Karlsson, Hennig was 23.1 seconds short of the podium after a great fight.

Father Heiko, mother Karen and sister Hanna joined in the excitement and saw how the 26-year-old caught up in the fight against the clock at the end.

After almost 25 minutes, Hennig, who has already been on the podium twice this season, was 41.2 seconds behind Karlsson, who took her third win of the season and took the lead in the overall standings.

Peter Schlickenrieder also praised the DSV women in particular, who achieved further good results with Katherine Sauerbrey (25th) and Victoria Carl (26th).

"Katharina did well.

You can be absolutely satisfied with that,” said the national coach, who, in view of the constant rain, spoke with a wink of “damp sunshine”.

Kläbo dominates among men

Johannes Hösflot Kläbo had previously dominated the men's category.

The defending champion from Norway also won the third stage and extended his lead in the general classification.

Only the Russian Sergej Ustyugow had previously managed a "hat trick" at the start of the tour, who even won the first five sections in 2016/17.

The best German was Albert Kuchler (Lam/+1:09.0) in 28th place. Friedrich Moch (Isny), who started the tour strongly, was 1:16.7 minutes behind Kläbo with the high start number 70 and had to keep up the 33rd place content.

Nevertheless, Moch remains in 15th place in the overall ranking.