sentences:  At the 35 km mark, a group of nine had taken the lead, with Estil, Lukáš Bauer of the Czech Republic (who would finish fifth after leading for most of the second of half of the race), and Gaillard in the top three positions.Midway through the race, Hjelmeset suffered a broken binding and had to have one of his skis replaced.Four skiers fell off before the last 3.75 km loop, leaving two Norwegians, two Germans (Jens Filbrich and Tobias Angerer), and Bauer to fight for the medals.