OPA: Stefan Rettenegger sweeps wins in Winterberg

Austria’s Stefan Rettenegger celebrated a double victory at the first OPA Alpencup stop of the season 2019/20 for men.

In Saturday’s 10 km event, Rettenegger crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Germany’s Nick Siegemund and 26.5 seconds ahead of Matteo Baud (FRA). Local hero Lenard Kersting had to be satisfied with rank four (+26.8), Gael Blondeau was fifth (+27.8) and Italian Iacopo Bartolas sixth (+30.4).

Germany’s Jakob Fischer was the master of Winterberg’s HS 87 jumping hill and jumped to 83.5 km. 112.9 points meant the win on the hill and the pole position of the race by 12 seconds. Mael Begrand (FRA) followed with 81.5 metres (110 p.) and Simon Kosak (GER) was third with 81 metres and 109.4 points. He started 14 seconds after teammate Fischer. Rettenegger held the good fifth position of 64 starters after the jumping event and had to make up 23 seconds in the race.

The third-fastest cross-country time was enough to give Rettenegger a comfortable lead, while fourth-placed jumped Nick Siegemund had to fight for his second position with only the 13th time in the race. Lenard Kersting was the fastest race on home soil and finished the course in 22:35.6 but missed out on the podium by 0.3 seconds.

Final Results
Ski Jumping Results

Sunday’s 5 km event was a tighter affair with Rettenegger only winning by 7.3 seconds. Here, he had to show the fastest cross-country time of 14:45.7 after ranking only tenth in the jumping part with a delay of 21 seconds. Slovenia’s Uros Vrbek was the best jumper of the day. He beat the previous day’s jumping winner Jakob Fischer by one metre and topped the result list with 105.7 points. Fischer followed by 103.1 points and a delay of 10 seconds.

In the race, Rettenegger set the pace, but local hero Lenard Kersting was hot on his heels with the second-fastest time of 14.46.0 and claimed the second place, this time 0.3 seconds ahead of third-placed Matteo Baud. The Frenchman claimed his second third place in as many days with this result.

Final Results
Ski Jumping Results

In the overall standings, Rettenegger leads with 200 points, Kersting is second (130 p.) and Baud third (120 p.).
Standings