Riiber Continued Where He Left Off Last Season - Herola starts the season with a fantastic race

Last year’s Nordic Combined World Cup champion, Jarl Magnus Riiber, claimed a convincing victory in the season opener at Ruka. The defending champion paced his skiing excellently, conserving energy for the final sprint, where the Norwegian pulled away with a decisive two-second lead over Germany’s Vinzenz Geiger, who finished second. Another German, Julian Schmid, crossed the line in third.

Finland’s Ilkka Herola also had a great start to his season. He set himself up well for the race on Thursday, finishing sixth in the provisional round with a 132.5 meter jump. During the race, he stayed with the lead group from start to finish, although the top three were slightly stronger in the final sprint. Herola finished 6.6 seconds behind Riiber. Right behind him was Austria’s Johannes Lamparter, who finished 14.1 seconds off the lead.

The second for the Finns was Arttu Mäkiaho, who finished 28th, 1:56.9 minutes behind Riiber.

Otto Niittykoski’s skis didn’t glide well enough today. He started in 14th place but finished 2:14.1 minutes behind the leader, in 35th place.

Results 

Text: Santeri Kulhoranta
Picture: Sofia Satta