Germany haul in Japan to take Nordic Combined title
BySportsbeat
Updated 25/11/2018 at 19:38 GMT
Germany's Nordic Combined four sealed victory in the final team event of FIS Ruka Nordic, beating out competition from Japan and Norway, who completed the top three.
Eric Frenzel's fondness for the Norwegian venue of Trondheim continued as he repeated his success from 12 months ago by beating World Cup leader Akito Watabe.
Image credit: Reuters
The quartet of Eric Frenzel, Fabian Riessle, Johannes Rydzek and Vinzenz Geiger finished comfortably ahead of their nearest rivals, with a 1:05 cushion over Japan, who sealed a first podium since 2013.
And Geiger, who brought the team home, was delighted to emerge with the win.
"It was a great feeling – I think it's an honour to be the last guy on a cross country track. The other guys did a great job, so I didn't have the hardest race," he said.
While teammate Riessle added: "It was our tactic to start smooth and then pick up the speed in the second lap.
"It worked very well and all of us did a great job."
They were forced to turn around a deficit of over a minute to the Japanese team after their opponents delivered on the jumping section.
But strong work from all four meant that the Germans were catching their opponents all the way on the skis, Riessle eventually passing Japan to take a lead that they would not relinquish.
In third Norway battled it out with Austria after both had suffered disqualifications that put them out of the running for top spot, with the Norwegians eventually prevailing.
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