Lamparter seals Ruka Tour title as winds prevent Mass Start jumping

Johannes Lamparter (AUT) sealed the Ruka Tour title as high winds again prevented any ski jumping and forced the Mass Start to be cancelled on the final day of Nordic Combined World Cup action in the Finnish resort.

Lamparter’s team-mate Stefan Rettenegger (AUT) had earlier shown a welcome return to the form that brought him 11 individual podiums in the 2023-24 season as he won a fast-paced 10km cross-country race.

But with the swirling wind making jumping too dangerous, as it was on Saturday when PCR results were used to decide the Gundersen, the athletes were again prevented from taking to the HS142 Large Hill, one of the most challenging on the circuit.

That meant Lamparter, who had finished seventh in the Mass Start cross-country, 21.2 seconds behind Rettenegger, clinched the Ruka Tour title, having won both of the two completed competitions - Friday’s Compact and Saturday’s Gundersen.

The 24-year-old, the only man to win an overall title – in 2022-23 - during the otherwise dominant reign of Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR) from 2018-19 to 2023-2024, will take the leader’s Yellow Bib to Trondheim (NOR), which is scheduled to host two men’s events – and the first two of the women’s season - next weekend.

Lamparter’s victory in Saturday’s wind-impacted Gundersen was his fourth individual World Cup victory in a row, having also won the final two events of last season in Lahti (FIN).

Julian Schmid (GER) again showed good form in finishing third in the Mass Start cross-country race on Sunday before the cancellation of the jumping, after second places in both the Compact and the Gundersen.

“It was too windy – over 10m per second, so that is not good for ski jumping – but I did a really good cross-country again and there were two great competitions, so I am really happy with second overall and already looking forward to Trondheim,” he said.

Schmid (above, right) was part of the leading group throughout Sunday’s Mass Start in the tracks, as he, Jens Luraas Oftebro (NOR) and Stefan Rettenegger (AUT) went off fastest and forged a 19-20 second lead over the rest after the first of the four 2.5km laps.

A glut of Norwegian athletes in the chasing pack – which included Lamparter - initially appeared to be trying to slow the pace down as they came through the finish area to give Oftebro a better chance of escaping at the front.

But Aleksander Skoglund (NOR) forged clear of the chasers by halfway to make it a lead bunch of four, who held an eight-second lead over a group including Skoglund’s younger brother Andreas (NOR), Einar Luraas Oftebro (NOR) and Vid Vrhovnik (SLO).

The quartet at the front put the hammer down on the third lap, Rettenegger and Skoglund both taking turns on the front, as Lamparter moved to the head of the chasing pack, closing to within 15 seconds heading into the final lap.

But that was as close as Lamparter got despite Jens Luraas Oftebro, normally one of the strongest in the tracks, being cut adrift at the front as the other three leaders pushed on hard towards the finish.

Rettenegger led up the final uphill section before Schmid accelerated past him to briefly hit the front. But the German couldn’t maintain his attack and seemed content to let the other two fight it out for victory as Rettenegger (below) beat Skoglund to the victory, with Schmid 2.5 seconds behind in third.

There were also strong performances from Samuel Costa (ITA), the 32-year-old who has come out of retirement for this Winter Olympics season on home snow, who finished fourth, 11.3 seconds back, and Eero Hirvonen (FIN), who came in fifth.

Kristjan Ilves (EST) and Yellow Bib holder Lamparter finished 20.6 and 21.2 seconds back in sixth and seventh, while Jens Luraas Oftebro trailed in ninth after struggling to keep pace on a punishing final lap.

Ilkka Herola (FIN) finished third overall in the Ruka Tour standings, having followed his first individual World Cup podium at the venue on Friday with a fifth place on Saturday.

“It is my best opening weekend in Ruka so I can be very satisfied,” said the 30-year-old Finn. “It is a shame we had no opportunity to compete on the hill today, but winds can be challenging here and this year was no exception.

“Let’s hope we have decent conditions in Trondheim and can have good competitions there.”