Geiger wins in the finish

Combined: Lamparter narrowly misses out on a podium place

The winner of the Nordic combined's compact competition with first one jump and then 7.5 km on the cross-country track is Vinzenz Geiger. The German beat his compatriot Julian Schmid in a photo finish on Sunday in Lillehammer after 17:44.0 minutes. Record winner Jarl Magnus Riiber had to settle for third place (+1.9 sec.). Johannes Lamparter missed out on a podium finish in fourth place.

The Tyrolean missed out on another third place, which he had achieved on Saturday, by 3.4 seconds. Thomas Rettenegger finished just under two seconds behind in fifth place. A mishap that was not shown on the TV broadcast cost Lamparter the connection in the finish. "Unfortunately, I got caught on the rail and then I lost the group. The other three were really strong today," said the two-time 2021 World Champion. "Third and fourth - I can leave Lillehammer with a smile." He is slowly approaching his top form on the hill.

Rettenegger noted his "liberation on the hill" and added, "the race was flawless, there were four people ahead of me who are among the best skiers."

Lamparter was still ahead with Riiber after 5 km
Riiber, who had celebrated his 75th World Cup victory the day before, started the race six seconds ahead of Rettenegger and twelve ahead of Lamparter. The Austrians kept up the fight for the podium places for a long time. After two thirds of the cross-country distance, Lamparter was still in the lead ex aequo with Riiber. Around the last kilometer, the eventual podium trio pulled away from the Austrians.

With Stefan Rettenegger (13th), Lukas Greiderer (14th), Martin Fritz (17th) and Franz-Josef Rehrl (20th), four more ÖSV athletes finished in the top 20. Paul Walcher was 33rd, Manuel Einkemmer did not start due to muscular problems in his legs.

(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Bieler sees steady improvement in Lamparter
Head coach Christoph Bieler drew a mixed balance. "Thank goodness we finished on the podium. In terms of results, we perhaps expected a bit more beforehand," admitted the ÖSV official. "Jo's (Lamparter, note) performance is steadily improving, and I'm particularly pleased with his development on the hill. Unfortunately, he got stuck in the final and lost the connection." But you could see that Lamparter could fight for victory. "Tom (Rettenegger) also showed that he can keep up with the best."

The combined skiers will now have a two-week break before competing for World Cup points again just before Christmas in Ramsau (December 19-21). "We hope that we can laugh off the upper podium places at our first home World Cup."