Geiger to be crowned overall champion as Herola targets more success in Lahti
Mar 19, 2025·Nordic Combined
The finale to the Viessmann FIS World Cup Nordic Combined season in Lahti (FIN) will see Vinzenz Geiger (GER) officially crowned as the new overall champion this weekend and Finnish hero Ilkka Herola target more success on home snow.
Geiger had previously worn the leader’s yellow bib after the first weekend of competition in Ruka (FIN) on 1 December, when he won his first World Cup event in two years and first of seven this season.
But five-time champion Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR) reclaimed it in Lillehammer the following weekend and had worn it ever since until last Sunday, when the Norwegian superstar, who had already announced in late January he would retire at the end of the season, decided to end his career a week earlier than expected.
Riiber, who has been battling the effects of Crohn’s disease all season, had seen his overall lead cut to 71 points the previous day when he finished second behind Geiger in the Gundersen in Oslo.
What proved to be his farewell race saw him fall in the cross-country tracks and then let all bar one of the other 45 competitors pass him as he opted to take the acclaim of his home fans and bring the curtain down on a remarkable career.
That left Geiger, who finished second behind first-time winner Herola in Sunday’s Compact, with an unexpected 19-point lead over Riiber in the standings.
Riiber will be in Lahti to collect his trophies as the season’s Best Jumper – for a fifth time in six years - and for topping the standings from the four Mass Start competitions, but he will not be competing in the two large hill Gundersens on Friday and Saturday.
That means Geiger, who has a 287-point advantage over Johannes Lamparter (AUT) and 289 over Julian Schmid (GER), cannot be caught in the race for the Crystal Globe, with only 200 more points available.
The 27-year-old German, in his 10th season on the World Cup circuit, had previously finished third, second and third overall behind Riiber in three seasons from 2019-20 to 2021-22, but the last two saw him drop to seventh and then 11th last season.
But his consistency has seen him finish on the podium in 13 of the 17 events this season and he has taken his overall tally of individual World Cup wins from 10 to 17, including the Seefeld ‘Triple’ (below).
Geiger has won four of the last six competitions, pipping Riiber in the tracks in three successive races – two in Otepää (EST) before the World Championships, one in Oslo – before settling for second behind Herola last Sunday.
The 29-year-old Finn, who has been competing on the World Cup circuit since 2012, was still coming to terms with his maiden individual victory after breaking the Holmenkollbakken hill record with a remarkable 146.0m jump and then powering clear of the chasing pack to take an ultimately comfortable Compact win.
“That was kind of a weird day,” Herola reflected. “Strange things happened. I was on fire on the hill and started first in the cross-country and then I won the race. There were many things that have not happened before – it was a special one.”
Herola can expect raucous support at his ‘home’ event, where the last two Nordic Combined competitions of the season form part of the traditional Lahti Ski Games, first held in 1923 and the longest continuously organized sports event in Finland.
A fireworks show will illuminate the Salpausselkä ski jumping venue at the conclusion of Saturday’s competition, with Herola aiming to put his own name up in lights for the second weekend in a row.
“I don’t have the hill record there yet, so that’s one thing!” joked the jovial Finn, whose best individual finish in Lahti was a fourth place in 2023, although he won a Team Sprint with Eero Hirvonen in 2019.
Overall third place to be decided
With Riiber guaranteed to finish second in the overall standings, the battle for third place sees Lamparter, the 2022-23 champion, aiming to finish in the top three for the fourth consecutive season.
The Austrian holds a two-point lead over Schmid heading into Friday’s first Gundersen, with Jens Luraas Oftebro (NOR) a further 100 points behind in fifth place.
The men will have a provisional competition round on Thursday, 20 March, starting at 12:00 CET (13:00 local time).
Friday’s ski jumping round is scheduled to begin at 10:00 CET (11:00 local) with the 10km cross-country at 12:50 CET (13:50).
Saturday’s action on the HS130 hill starts at 11:40 CET (12:40) with the final cross-country of the season scheduled for 14:30 CET (15:30).
FACTS AND FIGURES
Vinzenz Geiger (GER) will be officially crowned as the new men’s overall champion – his first Crystal Globe in his 10th season on the World Cup circuit.
Geiger leads Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR) by 19 points in the standings, but Riiber will not be competing in Lahti after ending his career in Oslo last Sunday.
Geiger leads Johannes Lamparter (AUT), his closest challenger, by 287 points, with a maximum of 200 points remaining.
Geiger’s previous best overall finish was second in 2020-21, and he also finished third in 2019-20 and 2021-22. He was 11th in the standings last season.
The 27-year-old has finished on the podium in 13 of the 17 competitions this season and taken his overall tally of individual World Cup wins from 10 to 17.
Geiger has not finished off the podium since winning the Seefeld ‘Triple’ in early February. He has won four of the last six World Cup events.
Ilkka Herola (FIN) won his first individual World Cup competition last Sunday in Oslo, in his 13th season on the circuit, helped by a hill-record jump of 146.0m.
Johannes Lamparter (AUT) won a Gundersen on the HS130 hill in Lahti last season and holds a two-point lead over Julian Schmid (GER) in the battle for third place overall.
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