Herola storms to maiden win as Riiber bows out and Geiger moves to brink of overall title

Ilkka Herola (FIN) stormed to his maiden individual victory in the Viessman FIS Nordic Combined World Cup 13 years after his debut on a momentous day in Oslo as Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR) bowed out of the sport and Vinzenz Geiger (GER) moved to the brink of claiming his first overall title.

Herola had previously finished on the podium 13 times including two - in Ramsau and Schonach – earlier this season, in which he has also finished fourth five times and fifth twice, including Saturday’s Gundersen.

But the 29-year-old Finn broke the HS134 Holmenkollbakken hill record with a remarkable wind-assisted 146.0m jump that saw him start the 7.5km Compact cross-country with a six-second lead over Franz-Josef Rehrl (AUT).

But despite a glut of good skiers in close proximity, Herola shook off Rehrl in the first third of the race before stepping up the pace to forge a 34-second lead after 5km.

That meant he could ease back slightly in the final 2.5km to take the victory in 17:11.3, with Geiger coming home second, 15.3 seconds adrift, and Johannes Lamparter (AUT) edging compatriot Stefan Rettenegger for third place.

The first half of a slightly surreal competition had ended with overall leader Riiber - chasing a record sixth Crystal Globe - only finishing 21^st on the HS134 hill, meaning he started a minute back in the tracks.

But moments before the start of the cross-country, it was announced this would be Riiber's final race, meaning the 'king of the sport’ will not compete in the final two events in Lahti (FIN) next weekend – and ultimately will not win that sixth crown.

Having announced in late January he would retire at the end of the season as he battles to deal with the effects of Crohn's disease, it initially appeared Riiber was intent on chasing the 111th World Cup podium of his remarkable career as he moved up from 21^st to eighth and closed on the chasing group of five including Geiger.

But a fall coming round a high-speed turn cost Riiber nearly 10 seconds and after that he appeared to ease up and take in the adulation of his home crowd, eventually strolling home in 45^th out of 46 competitors, nearly three minutes behind Herola.

“I am so, so tired,” he said after each of his rivals greeted him with a hug on the finish line and brothers Jens and Einar Luraas Oftebro hoisted him on their shoulders to take the acclaim of the crowd.

“I did a lot of mistakes today but it felt so right for me to just stop here, in beautiful Oslo, where I am with all my family and to stop this fantastic chapter but also start a new one."

With Riiber failing to pick up any points and Geiger collecting 90 for his second place, the German moved 14 points above Riiber in the overall standings.

That means Geiger will head to Lahti with a 287-point lead over Lamparter and 289 over Julian Schmid.

With only 200 more points available, Geiger will be crowned overall champion for the first time in Lahti next weekend, barring an unlikely scenario where Riiber changes his mind about competing.

“That is unexpected, but I am really happy,” said Geiger after donning the yellow bib for the first time since the opening weekend of the season in Ruka back in December. “Today was tricky on the hill but it was a good cross-country race."

The HS134 hill had earlier hosted a dramatic jumping round in constantly varying conditions.

Yoshito Watabe (JPN)’s 130.0m jump (113.6 points) set the early target but after a delay caused by swirling wind which saw him taken off the start gate three times, Otto Niittykoski (FIN) held his nerve superbly to take the lead with a 128.0m effort from gate 17 for 118.5 points.

Akito Watabe (JPN)’s stylish jump matched Niittykoski for distance to earn 116.1 before an excellent 129.0m jump from Laurent Muhletahler (FRA) saw him take over in the leader’s seat with 121.1 before the top 10 took to the hill.

Franz-Josef Rehrl (AUT), who had the joint-longest jump on Saturday, was punching his chest in celebration after a 136.0m effort (131.1 points), with Rettenegger also taking advantage of the wind assistance with a 129.0m jump (119.1) to finish fifth on the hill.

But that was nothing compared to Herola (below), who flew out to a remarkable 146.0m to set a new Nordic Combined record on the Holmenkollbakken, beating the previous best mark of 144.0m.

“That was insane,” he said. “On the gnoll it felt quite normal, not anything special with the height or anything. But there was an extreme head-wind at the end of the flight which took me a totally different direction, but also took off quite a lot of speed and made it possible to stand the jump. That saved my knees possibly today!”

The wind appeared to then change again for the final five jumpers, but Lamparter’s 119.0m effort (122.4) still placed him third, 12 seconds back, with Geiger 30 seconds behind in seventh after a 126.0 jump (117.5).

Riiber, going last, found himself in unfamiliar territory with his 110.5m effort only good enough for 110.5 points, leaving him 21^st - a minute down – heading to the tracks.

Up ahead, Rehrl moved to within a second of Herola in the first kilometer, with Geiger making up ground as he joined a chasing group featuring Rettenegger, Lamparter and Muhlethaler (below).

But Herola increased his pace to move away from Rehrl as the pursuers slipped back, while Riiber moved up to eighth, 25 seconds further back at the head of a second group trying to close the gap on Geiger.

As Rehrl slipped back into the chasing group around 30 seconds back, Rettenegger took up the chase but Herola showed no signs of slowing down, increasing the gap to 34 seconds after 4.1km.

As they went through 5km, Geiger moved up to join Rettenegger and Lamparter in the fight for the other podium places, ultimately proving too strong for both of them in the closing stages as Lamparter settled for third place.

“It was not an easy day on the jumping hill, they were tough conditions and I was not the lucky one, but I still got the points to be in a good position,” said the Austrian.

“Ilkka [Herola] was in his own league on the hill and in the tracks, but we had a nice fight for the podium – Vinz was just a bit stronger.”

Click here for the full results from Sunday's Compact.