COC-M: Robin Pedersen wins after one round

Norway's Robin Pedersen could celebrate his first win in the Continental Cup on a windy day on the infamous Rukatunturi-hill in Ruka (FIN).

The 22-year-old won the first of two competitions this weekend, which was decided after only one round due to the difficult wind conditions, with a jump of 135.5 m that earned him a total of 123.6 points. Robin Pedersen presents himself in a great shape so far this winter, just a week ago in Lillehammer, he achieved his first podium finish in the COC with a third place. "I think my jump was okay. I still have some things to improve, but I like that I'm making progress step by step. The hill is perfect. the headwind is also perfect, so I really liked it and I can't wait to jump here again tomorrow", said Pedersen.

The longest jumps of the day were shown by Aleksander Zniszczol of Poland and Slovenia's Robert Kranjec with 144 m, but both had a lot more headwind than Pedersen. In the end, Aleksander Zniszczol came in second with 117.4 points. Veteran Robert Kranjec finished third, close behind the Pole, with his 116.6 points.

Andrzej Stekala secured another top result for the Polish team in fourth, behind him, 19-year-old Estonian Artti Aigro finished on a career-best fifth place.

Jaka Hvala of Slovenia was sixth, followed by Yuken Iwasa of Japan. The best German in this competition was Justin Lisso in eighth. The Top 10 were completed by Rok Justin of Slovenia and Norway's Thomas Aasen Markeng.

Norwegian Marius Lindvik, who is competing in the World Cup in Engelberg this weekend, still leads the overall ranking with 200 points, followed by his teammate Robin Pedersen (175 points) and Aleksander Zniszczol (170 points).

The second competition in Ruka starts on Sunday at 9 am CET.

Full results