Five wins in the first five Gundersen competitions of a season - no nordic combined athlete before Jarl Magnus Riiber managed to do this. However, he had to work significantly more for today's victory than before: In heavy snowfall and little wind the Norwegian coach shortened the inrun length for the high-flyer, who then had to compensate some gusts in the air and at the landing at 139.5 meters he could scarcely avoid a fall. Thus, Riiber went with only four seconds ahead in the cross country race, which promised a more exciting race than usual. "The jump did not feel so good at the take-off, then I tried to correct it in the jump and then this wobber on landing. This was close to falling, but I was able to survive. I'm a slightly better skier than both directly behind me and I have a calming gap on Jørgen Graabak", he said.
In cross-country, the Norwegian then initially skied together with F-J Rehrl (AUT) until he escaped in the second lap from the Austrian and made his own race. In the third lap, Jørgen Graabak took the unchallenged second position, but had no chance to catch up with Riiber. "With all the snow, the race was very difficult and slow, and after they squeezed the snow with the roller, it was even slower", said Riiber, who was very happy about his next entry into the history books: "This is very special. My family supported me perfectly all my life and I heard them screaming and cheering at the track today." During the last lap, a German trio managed to catch up with the chasing group and secured third to fifth place: Vinzenz Geiger made it onto the podium ahead of Fabian Rießle (GER) and Eric Frenzel (GER, Fischer ***) finished fifth. Sixth place went to 19-year-old talent Jens Lurås Oftebro (NOR, Fischer ***) ahead of Espen Bjørnstad (NOR, Fischer ***). Ilkka Herola (FIN, Fischer ***) took ninth place ahead of Martin Fritz (AUT, Fischer ***).
=> HS140/10km Lillehammer (NOR)
* = Fischer skis
** = Fischer skis and bindings
*** = Fischer skis, bindings and boots
