Press Release 12th January 2019

NORWAY FENDS OFF THE GERMAN ATTACKS
IN THE NORDIC COMBINED TEAM SPRINT IN VAL DI FIEMME

3rd day for the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Val di Fiemme
In the Team Sprint Norway is able to cross the finish line ahead of the two German teams
Tonight the Ski Jumping HS135 and tomorrow the second Individual Gundersen HS135

The Nordic Combined World Cup Team Sprint 2x7.5 ended this afternoon at the Cross Country Stadium of Lago di Tesero in Val di Fiemme with the cross-country round. Team Norway I – with Jan Schmid and Joergen Graabak – was able to fend off the attacks of both German teams: Johannes Rydzek-Vinzenz Geiger (Germany I) and Eric Frenzel-Fabian Riessle (Germany II) tried for the whole race to take the lead without succeeding. The three teams came together to the final stretch and Graabak was able to cross the finish line ahead of Rydzek and Frenzel for just half a second.
The Norwegian team Schmid-Graabak won the ski jumping round on the HS135 in the morning in Predazzo and started in first position at the Cross Country Stadium in Lago di Tesero with a 31-second lead ahead of team Germany I (Vinzenz Geiger - Johannes Rydzek) and a 38-second lead ahead of team Germany II (Fabian Riessle - Eric Frenzel). Austria (Lukas Greiderer - Lukas Klapfer) was fourth followed by the Italian team that had a 51-second gap from the lead. Team Norway II (Magnus Krog - Espen Bjoernstad) was further behind and Japan paid for some inaccuracy of Yoshito Watabe despite the good performance of Go Yamamoto.
At the Cross Country Stadium Norway started well leading for almost three quarters of the race. The two German teams started very close and set up an effective team strategy that saw them gain ground. On the fifth lap the gap was reduced to just 5.4 seconds for Germany I and 5.8 for Germany II. At the 10.5 km mark of the race the three teams were together. Rydzek (GER I) and Frenzel (GER II) passed and tried to take the lead, but the Norwegians never lost ground. 
Behind the three teams there was a respectable fight. Norway II (Magnus Krog-Espen Bjoernstad) and Austria I (Lukas Greiderer-Lukas Klapfer) seemed intent on keeping the Italian team of Pittin and Costa behind. But after a few laps Italy I got into fourth position trying to gain seconds on the German teams. 
On the second-to-last lap Schmid (NOR I) tried to launch Graabak in the last 1,500 meters. The teams continued to attack and on the hill that precedes the final stretch Norway seemed to give up for a moment, but Graabak was just waiting for the final sprint to cross the finish line ahead of Geiger and Riessle.
Tomorrow will be the last day in Val di Fiemme and the program of the Fiemme Ski World Cup O.C. foresees the second Individual Gundersen HS135 with a 10km cross-country challenge. The ski jumping qualification round is scheduled at 8.45 a.m. while the competition round at 10.00 a.m.; in Lago di Tesero the cross-country skiing round will start at 2.30 p.m.
At 9.00 am, between the two jumping rounds, there will be a breakfast with croissant and cappuccino offered by the ‘Jump in the Breakfast’ event.

For further information: www.fiemmeworldcup.com      

Download TV images:
www.broadcaster.it

Team Sprint HS 135/2x7,5 km
1 NORWAY I (SCHMID Jan, GRAABAK Joergen); 2 GERMANY I (RYDZEK Johannes, GEIGER Vinzenz) +0.5; 3 GERMANY II (FRENZEL Eric, RIESSLE Fabian) +0.5; 4 ITALY I (COSTA Samuel, PITTIN Alessandro) +39.4; 5 AUSTRIA I (GREIDERER Lukas, KLAPFER Lukas) +1:09.3; 6 NORWAY II (KROG Magnus, BJOERNSTAD Espen) +1:13.7; 7 AUSTRIA II (DENIFL Wilhelm, GERSTGRASER Paul) +1:21.7; 8 FINLAND I (HEROLA Ilkka, MAEKIAHO Arttu) +1:29.3; 9 FRANCE (BRAUD Francois, GERARD Antoine) +1:41.4; 10 UNITED STATES (FLETCHER Taylor, LOOMIS Ben) +1:53.0.