COCM: Sindre Ure Søtvik wins Mass Start premiere

After the last World Cup competition took place in 2009, the Mass Start had its return to the Continental Cup calendar this season and Norway’s Sindre Ure Søtvik is the first winner.

Søetvik ranked 17th after the Mass Start race and had to make up 22.4 points on the winner of the race, Bernhard Flaschberger. Søtvik proceeded to jump 141 metres in the final jumping round. The longest jump of the day gave him a total of 232.4 points, which proved to be unreachable for the other athletes. This result put him two points ahead of runner-up Martin Fritz from Austria. Fritz had ended the race on position ten and added 132.9 points to his tally after a jump of 138 metres, elevating him to the second place.

Young German Luis Lehnert impressed with the first Continental Cup podium of his career. He improved a 27th rank from the cross-country race to the final position three with a jump of 134.5 metres and finished 11.2 points behind winner Søtvik.

The rest of the Top Ten positions went to a majority of strong jumpers. Harald Riiber finished fourth, Florian Dagn fifth, Go Sonehara seventh and young teammate Kodai Kimura eighth. USA’s Ben Berend returned to the Top Ten with a ninth place and Lukas Danek closed out the Top Ten on position ten. Of the top three of the cross-country race, only third-placed Thomas Jöbstl was able to retain a Top Ten rank on position six. His teammates and race winner and runner up, Paul Gerstgraser and Bernhard Flaschberger ended the competition on rank 18 and eleven.