Stoch wins in Innsbruck, poised for Four Hills triumph

He jumped 130m and 128.5m to take a 64.5 point advantage in the general classification over Andres Wellinger of Germany.

The Pole, who triumphed in the first two legs at Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, is one win away from equalling German Sven Hannawald's record of winning all four events in the same edition.

German Richard Freitag, who was Stoch's main competitor for the title, ended his campaign early after a bad landing in the first round left him injured and unable to compete in the second round.

Stoch, 30, battled heavy rain and strong winds to finish with a total tally of 270.1 points after leaping distances of 130 and 128.5 metres across the two rounds.

"I wanted to stay focused on what I needed to do and I'm glad I did everything I could and did it right," he said afterwards.

"The Four Hills is just a competition, I treat it like a challenge and thinking from one competition to another and that's all.

"I just want to keep smiling after my jump."

Norway's Daniel Andre Tande was second after jumping 129.5 metres in his first attempt and 125 in his second to finish on 255.6 points.

German Andreas Wellinger rounded out the podium after leaping 133 and 126 metres to notch 253.5 points.

Stoch, a gold medallist at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, won the Four Hills tournament last year after finishing second in the first two events and winning the final leg.

Freitag holds an 88-point lead atop the overall World Cup leaderboard while Stoch is second on 623 points ahead of the final Four Hills event at Bischofshofen on January 6.