On Wednesday the German Ski Association (DSV) announced the team, that will compete in the World Cup opening this weekend in front of the home crowd in Klingenthal.

Besides last season's overall World Cup champion Severin Freund, Richard Freitag, Marinus Kraus, Stephan Leyhe, Andreas Wank and Andreas Wellinger will get the chance to participate.

Head coach Werner Schuster is satisfied with how the preparation went for his team and is looking forward to the start of the season. "The preparation for the winter went well and according to plan. Recently we used the ice tracks on the hills in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Oberstdorf for some high quality training sessions under good external conditions. We will travel to Klingenthal for the World Cup opening on Thursday. On Friday we will then make our first jumps on snow this winter.

Over the last weeks we laid the foundation for a positive start of the season. The athletes are fit, healthy and motivated for the opening in front of the home crowd in the Vogtland-Arena. We are confident before the first international competition. The support of the own fans at the first World Cup raises the anticipation of the whole team for the weekend in Klingenthal."

After his extremely successful last winter, team leader Severin Freund starts the new season optimistically. "I was very satisfied with the summer competitions. I was also able to use the past weeks on the hill very effectively for the preparation for the season. I tried to adjust my form build-up to the requirements of the upcoming season. Because main events like the 4-Hills-Tournament and the Ski Flying World Championships will already be over late January, it's necessary to be in a top shape as early as possible. Over the course of a season I'm usually more of a "late bloomer", but we did a lot that I can get in a good shape sooner this winter."

The 27-year-old Munich native is especially looking forward to the support of the fans in the Vogtland-Arena. "I hope that many fans will come again to support us. I can't image a better start of the winter than in front of the home crowd."

Local hero Richard Freitag fully agrees with his teammate. "Although I've experienced it a couple of times already, the World Cup opening at home is always a big privilege for me! The anticipation for the weekend is huge and physically I feel completely fit again. I'm satisfied with the quality of my jumps and I'm ready for the winter. As always, the atmosphere within the team is very good and we all want to use the opening to get ourselves and the fans in the right mood for the winter season."

Source: fis-ski.com