Armbruster doubles up with Chaux-Neuve victory

Nathalie Armbruster confirmed her dominance in the FIS Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix by winning the women’s Individual Gundersen in Chaux-Neuve (FRA). The German claimed her second triumph of the series and defended the yellow bib in front of a lively French crowd.

The morning Ski Jumping competition on the La Côté Feuillée HS118 hill was led by Finland’s Minja Korhonen, who reached 104 meters (99.8 pts) under cloudy skies. That jump put her in pole position for the 5 km roller ski race through Chaux-Neuve’s city streets. Local favorite Romane Baud followed in second with the furthest jump of the day, 109.5 meters (99 pts), starting just 3 seconds behind Korhonen. Armbruster positioned herself well with 102 meters (98.5 pts), lining up in third only 5 seconds off the lead.

With such tight margins, the three frontrunners immediately shaped the race. Armbruster quickly caught up to Korhonen, and the pair set the pace at the front. Baud, however, was unable to match their tempo and dropped back. “It feels awesome to have this second victory,” Armbruster later reflected. “I felt pretty good on the hill this year, I really liked it, and my race was also good.”

At the halfway mark, Jenny Nowak, Teja Pavec and Baud formed the first chase group, already 40 seconds down. Further behind, Slovenia’s Ema Volavšek, who was 9th after jumping, and American Tara Geraghty-Moats (7th after jumping) fought hard to close the gap. They caught the group on the final lap, setting up a thrilling sprint for the last podium spot.

At the front, Armbruster increased the pace once more and managed to shake off Korhonen. She skied alone into the finish, winning by 15.2 seconds and delighting the fans

Korhonen held firm for second place, while Volavšek (+29.0 sec) edged out Geraghty-Moats (+30.3 sec) in a tight sprint to complete the podium in third.

With her back-to-back victories, Armbruster remains firmly in control of the overall Summer Grand Prix standings.