Riiber returns to top of podium in Seefeld after momentous week

Reigning champion Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR) ended a momentous week by winning Friday’s Mass Start competition in the Viessmann FIS Nordic Combined World Cup to put himself on course for a possible fourth ‘Triple’ success in Seefeld.

The five-time overall champion, in his first event since announcing he will retire at the end of the season on health grounds, returned to top form by initially leading a Norwegian one-two-three in the 10km cross-country.

The 27-year-old then delivered a superb 109.0m jump on the Toni-Seelos Schanze to post 126.6 points and overhaul local favourite Johannes Lamparter (AUT), on 118.6, and compatriot Jens Luraas Oftebro, with 118.4.

In the process Riiber extended his own record of individual World Cup wins to 77 - and 83 overall including Team triumphs – with his fourth victory of the season, increasing his lead in the overall standings to 96 points.

Riiber, who won his third ‘Triple’ trophy in Seefeld last year after earlier triumphs in 2020 and 2021, will tackle the second stage of this year’s competition on Saturday in a Compact event, with an extended Gundersen to follow on Sunday.

“I was a little bit tired yesterday after making the (retirement) statement on Wednesday," he added. "But now I am feeling great and looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”

Lamparter thrilled the Tirolian crowd by soaring out to 110.0m on the large hill and claiming a third successive podium finish, after victory in Schonach last time out.

“All formats in one weekend is perfect for our sport and I really enjoyed it,” he said. “I had a solid race and a perfect jump, but Jarl was just not beatable today. But he is the king, so…just congrats.”

Oftebro earned his third podium of the season and remains fifth in the overall standings, 12 points behind Lamparter in fourth.

“It was a bit of a surprise for me as I am not a Mass Start specialist but the team did a really good cross-country race,” he said.

Earlier in the tracks, Riiber’s enduring class shone through again after a keenly-contested cross-country.

The defending champion (below) led at the end of the first 2.5km loop of the course before letting others take on the pace.

Compatriot Joergen Graabak hit the front on the second lap with the top 10 – including German duo Julian Schmid and Vinzenz Geiger - all within around two seconds as they hit the halfway mark.

Oftebro, the leader in the Best Skier standings, then took it on but it was Riiber who led the pack through 7.5km heading into the final lap, with Geiger and Schmid in close pursuit.

Another Norwegian, Andreas Skoglund, hit the front in the closing stages but Riiber dug deep to overhaul his compatriot and win in 24:07.2 with Oftebro 0.6 seconds back, Graabak third - 1.4 seconds behind – and two-time world junior champion Skoglund settling for fifth.

Manuel Faisst was the first German home in fourth, two seconds back, with Schmid in seventh and Geiger dropping to 11^th in the closing stages, 7.2 seconds behind – a differential of 1.8 points heading to the large hill.

Thomas Rettenegger (AUT), the most consistent jumper of the season, laid down a target with a 101.0m jump putting him on 97.1 points.

First Martin Fritz and then fellow Austrian Franz-Josef Rehrl, who matched Fritz’s 107.0m effort to hit 110.1 points, took the lead before Geiger surpassed them after a controlled 105.5m jump.

But in-form Lamparter (below), who started 1.3 points back after ninth place in the cross-country, delighted the crowd by soaring out to 110.0m and setting a new mark of 118.6 points.

Ilkka Herola (FIN) landed a mammoth 111.5m jump, the longest of the day, to get close on 114.5 points before Oftebro’s 105.5m jump took him to within 0.2 of Lamparter on 118.4.

But Riiber, as so often in his remarkable career, again had the last word.

Click here for the full results of Friday’s Mass Start.