Oftebro outsprints Riiber to take the Triple down to the wire

Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR) said he picked the wrong day. Jens Luraas Oftebro (NOR) sure picked the right one.

Oftebro bested his teammate in a thrilling cross-country sprint in Saturday's Compact event in Seefeld to set up a grandstand finish to the 'Triple' with one event remaining on Sunday.

In the midst of a dramatic week in which he announced that he would retire at the end of the season on Wednesday and then won Friday's Mass Start, Riiber dominated the ski jumping phase of the competition on Saturday morning.

The fixed timing nature of the Compact format gave him only a six-second lead at the head of the cross-country field, however, narrowing the gap for Oftebro and Vinzenz Geiger (GER).

The two cross-country specialists took advantage to join a leading pack of six skiers for most of the 7.5km race. The three stars then gained some separation from the rest of the pack before Geiger took the lead after the last climb.

He spent all his energy in doing so, however, setting up a virtual photo-finish between Oftebro and Riiber.

"It was really a tight sprint with Jarl," said Oftebro, who won by 0.8 seconds. "I felt really good but the finish straight area is really hard with low speed in the end. But I could finish the job with a victory so that means a lot for me."

Despite the exciting conclusion, Riiber knew he was unlikely to prevail.

"It's always like this when we have a long sprint, Jens will win 10 out of 10," he said. "It's always like this on training as well."

Geiger held on to claim third, three seconds behind Oftebro, with Johannes Lamparter (AUT, +5.5s) and Ilkka Herola (FIN, +9.1s) also within 10 seconds of the leading Norwegian at the finish.

"Really exciting, but not the best ending for me," Geiger lamented.

Riiber out-jumps the field — and nearly the hill

Riiber was left to rue what might have been, as the Compact format reduced his advantage to start the cross-country phase, despite his ski jumping dominance.

"Picked the wrong day today," he said after winning the ski jumping round, knowing that a chasing pack was going to charge after him.

Starting the day with an eight-point lead over Lamparter, which only grew to the rest of the field, Riiber jumped a sensational 108m on the HS109 hill, seven metres clear of all but one other competitor, to win the phase by nearly 30 points.

"I started a little bit off in the PCR and I knew I had to bring a big change for the competition yesterday, with the ass more down in the in-run," Riiber cheekily admittedly after his jump.

"Today I managed to get the right position and the right push, and with this tailwind (+19.9 wind compensation points), it's working very good."

Lamparter held his second position with a 99m jump, while Herola (97m) moved up from fourth to third at the expense of Oftebro (96m), who dropped down to fifth.

Between them, Geiger jumped an important 101m to move up from seventh to fourth and stay in touch with Riiber to begin the cross-country race.

The biggest mover in the ski jumping round was Thomas Rettenegger, whose 106m effort from 13th position had him sitting in the leader's chair long enough to munch on a sandwich and eventually result in him climbing six places to seventh.

But the narrative of the morning, as it has so often been in recent years, was that everyone was chasing 77-time World Cup winner Riiber.

In the end, only Oftebro ended up passing him.

Triple up for grabs

After such a tight finish to Saturday's race, the top five are all in contention to win the 'Triple' in Sunday's NH/12.5km conclusion.

The longer cross-country race will have Oftebro, Geiger and Lamparter licking their lips in anticipation. Of the trio, Lamparter is the only one to have tasted 'Triple' success before, winning the event in 2023.

As usual, however, it's all about Riiber, who is coming to the final weeks of his extraordinary career at age 27 after revealing this week that he is battling Crohn's disease.

The three-time 'Triple' champion and World Cup leader will relish the return to the Gundersen format that could give him some separation from the rest of the field if he continues his fine jumping form.

A fourth 'Triple' triumph would tie him with Eric Frenzel (GER) for the most in the event's history, and after the emotional week he has been through, it would come as one of the most storied victories of his incredible career.

It would be a brave person to bet against him.

Click here for full results from Saturday's Compact.