Riiber triumphs in tight season opener

Norway’s superstar Jarl Magnus Riiber, who has been battling with ”a summer of knee problems” as well as a stomach virus, is back on the winning track.

Kicking off his campaign aiming for a record sixth Viessmann FIS Nordic Combined World Cup crown, the 27-year-old made no mistake to win the Men’s Individual Compact Large Hill HS142/7.5km in Ruka, Finland, on Friday.

”It was my first win in Compact in Ruka so I am very satisfied and happy with that,” said Riiber, who had to settle for a second place when the event made its tour debut last year.”

With his eyes on a milestone 100 World Cup victories, Riiber however had to fight hard for his 74th, crossing the finish line two seconds before runner-up Vinzenz Geiger (GER) who had pushed him into the home straight.

In the first World Cup event of the season, in snowy conditions in the northern-Finnish ski town, Julian Schmid made it two times Germany on the podium, having finished third, 3.8 seconds behind the winner.

Riiber, as often the man to beat, had started the race in pole position and held onto his lead for the first half of the race. Then, a chasing pack of Geiger, Johannes Lamparter (AUT) and Ilkka Herola (FIN) made a push to catch up with him, making the compact race – as the event’s name implies – a tight one.

”I tried to make a little push in the beginning but felt that they were working together behind me and that it’s better to start focusing on the sprint rather than going for keeping the gap (large),” Riiber said.

”I was confident that I would fight for the podium with Vinzenz in the end there, but Julian also came quite fast behind. They were pretty strong so I just had to fight, really digging deep to win today.”

Coming into the last uphill section, Beijing 2022 Olympic Gundersen Normal Hill/10km champion Geiger was in first place with the Norwegian chasing right behind him. Then Riiber made his move to take the victory, leaving his three main rivals unable to respond.

”After a long period away from my family I felt that it gave me some energy in the last sprint there, that ’this has to be a victory’,” Riiber said.

Home hope Herola had to settle for a fourth place, missing the podium by 2.8 seconds as Lamparter finished fifth, 14.1 seconds after Riiber.

Tough conditions in Ruka

As Friday’s large hill competition got cancelled due to strong winds and snow, the 7.5km race’s starting times were decided by the results in Thursday’s second Provisional Competition Round (PCR).

There, Riiber had been outstanding. The Norwegian had landed at an impressive 144 metres to earn 150.9 points, giving him a six-second lead in the cross-country competition.

Austria’s Franz-Josef Rehrl had however held onto the top position for most of the competition. The 31-year-old jumped 143.5 metres to collect 143.4 points and was beaten only by the sport’s stand-out man Riiber.

Rehrl’s teammate Thomas Rettenegger also had a strong Thursday, scoring 138.1 points with an impressive leap of 137.5 metres to finish in third place, starting the 7.5km race 12 second behind Riiber.

Geiger had finished fifth in the PCR and started 22 seconds behind Riiber but made a strong effort to beat the Austrian trio of Rehire, Rettenegger and Lamparter who were ahead of him. The second place means that the 27-year-old German already has improved his result from last season where he failed to make it onto a World Cup podium.

”It was a really tough fight. I was sick the last week but it was a perfect start (of the season) for me. Second place and I am very happy with the jumping,” Geiger said.

His teammate Schmid also caught several positions in the cross-country race, having finishing eighth in the PCR.

”It’s a great feeling to be back on the course. I really like the course here,” said Schmid, 25, who improved from his 11th place in the event in Ruka last season.

”My race today was good and the PCR yesterday was quite OK. I am really, really happy that I could reach a podium because there were some really strong guys in front of me.”

The opening weekend of the men’s World Cup season in Ruka continues on Saturday with the Gundersen Large Hill HS142/10km. 

Click here for full results from Friday's competition.