No rivals in sight for Jarl Magnus Riiber
Nov 30, 2019·Nordic Combined
Jarl Magnus Riiber was in a leage of his own and made it back-to-back victories on the second day of the Ruka Tour 2019. Riiber was an undisputed winner again and crossed the finish line almost 50 seconds ahead of his two strongest adversaries, Germany’s Vinzenz Geiger and Jens Lurås Oftebro (NOR). Oftebro impressed with strong ski jumping and a strong skiing performance and it came down to a finish line sprint with Geiger, which the German won by 0.1 seconds in the end.
Riiber ruled supreme on the jumping hill in the morning, flew to 142.5 metres and captured the intermediate lead with a point score of 133.2 points. His teammates Espen Bjørnstad and Jens Lurås Oftebro also confirmed their great jumping shapes with 138 and 137.4 metres, ranks two and three respectively.
Today’s result list featured smaller gaps at the head of the field: Bjørnstad only started eleven seconds after Riiber, Oftebro followed at +0:24. Franz-Josef Rehrl steadily improved his two jumps today and ranked fourth, +0:34 behind Riiber. After these four, a slightly larger gap opened up but fast skiers Jørgen Graabak and Vinzenz Geiger had good chances on starting positions six and seven (+1:16 and +1:18 behind Riiber). Also Akito Watabe presented himself much improved and jumped to 126.5 metres, a jump in really challenging wind conditions. With 115.2 points, Watabe started from position five, +1:12 behind the leader.
Germany’s David Mach gave everyone a fright when he crashed in the early flying phase of his jump and slid down the entire landing slope but the German youngster left the outrun on his own two feet and did not sustain any serious injuries. As per the Ruka Tour rules, this morning’s trial round acted as qualification for today’s event. USA’s Jared Shumate, China’s Zihe Zhao and Jiawen Zhao and Otto Nittykoski did not qualify, while Hideaki Nagai and Adam Cieslar were disqualified.
Riiber started in his race with an eleven-second gap but already after 2.5 km, his gap had increased to 25 seconds, while pursuers Bjørnstad, Oftebro and Rehrl joined forces to chase Riiber from the stronger position of a group. Still, Riiber’s advantage increased to 35 seconds at the 5 km point and a second pursuing group with fast skiers Geiger, Graabak, Lukas Greiderer and Akito Watabe inched closer to Bjørnstad, Oftebro and Rehrl.
At the 7.5 km point, Riiber had gone further away and lead with 47 seconds, while only 20 seconds separated pursuing group leader Jørgen Graabak from his teammates Bjørnstad, Oftebro and Rehrl. Half a round later, the two groups were one and while Akito Watabe struggled with the pace, Austria’s Thomas Jöbstl and legend Eric Frenzel had joined the big pursuing group as well.
The fight for the podium places erupted on the last big uphill into the stadium. Vinzenz Geiger had the most power left and jumped up the hill but to the surprise of many spectators, it was youngster Oftebro who was the only one able to match the German’s attack. The two matched their sprinting skills on the final stretch as well but also here, Geiger prevailed. Even though both were outclassed by a superb Riiber, the podium finishers mark a comeback of the German team and a highlight the remarkable shape of the only 19-year-old Oftebro.
Espen Bjørnstad and Jørgen Graabak completed another great Norwegian result with ranks four and five, Austria was also strong with three athletes in the Top Ten: Lukas Greiderer was sixth, Franz-Josef Rehrl finished seventh and Thomas Jöbstl was eighth. Big names Eric Frenzel and Akito Watabe completed the Top Ten on positions nine and ten.
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