Ewa Pinkelnig wins in Villach

Eva Pinkelnig won the opening competition of the first-ever New Year's Tour The 34-year-old from Vorarlberg won her World Cup debut in Villach with the day's maximum distance of 95.5 meters and 257.9 points, clearly ahead of Norway's Anna Odine Ström (248.4). Third place went to the Slovenian Nika Kriznar (243.5).

Pinkelnig proved that the hill in Villach suits her. The experienced jumper, who was unbeatable in the qualification, was already in the lead after the first round with a jump of 91.5 m. In the final, she added the maximum distance of 95.5 m. With her second win of the season Pinkelnig replaced Germany's Katharina Althaus, who was ninth in Villach, at the top of the World Cup rankings.

Sara Marita Kramer finished fifth as the second best Austrian jumper. The best German was Selina Freitag. She landed on seventh place due to her unstable landing and exit in the second round.  Katharina Althaus fought her way up seven positions and finished ninth. The top ten were completed by two other Slovenians, Ema Klinec and Ursa Bogataj. Strong performance today showed also Canadian athletes. Abigail Strate finished the competition on the 6th place and her teammate Alexandria Loutitt was 4th what was her personal best.

Tomorrow, it will take place the second and the last competition in Villach. The qualification starts at 11:30, main competition starts at 13.