COC-M: Harald Riiber strikes again
Jan 12, 2020·Nordic Combined
Whoever wants to win, needs to beat a Riiber. This was true on the third day of the Viessmann FIS Nordic Combined World Cup but also on the second day of the FIS Continental Cup in Oberwiesenthal. Again, a strong foundation in the jumping part secured Harald Riiber's second COC victory in as many days.
Because of too much wind, a fair jumping round was not possible at Oberwiesenthal today. Therefore, Saturday’s Provisional Competition Round was used. With a jump on 110.5 metres (128.4 p.), Riiber did not only set a new hill record, but also put himself 19 seconds ahead of his teammate Sindre Ure Soetvik (107 metres, 123.7 p.). In third position was fellow Norwegian Lars Ivar Skaarset (101.5 metres, 121.7 p.)
Strong cross-country skiers Paul Gerstgraser (96 metres, 107.9 p.) and Jakob Lange (95 metres, 105.9 p.) followed on 15th and 21st places with a disadvantage of 1:22 and 1:30 minutes respectively.
While Riiber was having a quite lonely race in front until the very last metres, his teammates Soetvik and Skaarset were caught by the following group by the end of the third lap. Austria’s Gerstgraser once again proved that he is one of the best cross-country skiers in the whole field and not only caught Soetvik and Skaarset but even got very close to Riiber right before the finish line.
The third place went to Norway’s Jakob Eiksund Saethre, who was able to keep up with Gerstgraser and overtake his teammates Skaarset and Soetvik, who ended up in 4th and 5th place. The 6th place went to Austria’s Manuel Einkemmer, who was able to beat USA’s Jared Shumate in a photo finish. Simen Tiller (NOR), Jakob Lange (GER) and Fabio Obermeyr (AUT) completed the top ten.
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