Riiber Opens Season with Dream Performance Despite Injuries and Illness

Jarl Magnus Riiber determined the race in the final stretch, claiming victory in the Nordic combined competition in Ruka.

Riiber on the changes: "I’m trying to make it difficult for myself."

RUKA (Max): Thus, he achieved victory in the first World Cup race for the man who was overwhelmingly the best last season, where he achieved 16 wins and three second places in the 19 events he participated in.

It looks like the Oslo athlete is set to be a favorite for gold in the individual events at the World Championships in Trondheim later this winter.

Riiber has faced several challenges since last season, including a knee injury, a stomach virus, and the extraction of a wisdom tooth, but he returned to top form in Ruka.

“I’m very happy. This is the best way to start the season, and it gives me a lot of confidence moving forward,” Riiber told Max after the race. "I was very uncertain about where I stood, but during warm-up, I felt okay. So I'm very pleased with today’s victory."

Provisional Ski Jumping

There was drama before Friday’s event as strong winds prevented jumping in Ruka, so Thursday's provisional jump was used for the cross-country race. This did not disadvantage Riiber, who jumped the furthest on Thursday.

In the compact event, the leader after the jumping round starts with a six-second lead on the second-place competitor in the cross-country race. This remains the same regardless of points accumulated in the hill, but a maximum limit of one and a half minutes is set to prevent the weaker jumpers from falling too far behind during the race.

An Austrian trio, including Franz-Josef Rehrl, Thomas Rettenegger, and Johannes Lamparter, followed Riiber in the 7.5-kilometer race.

Strong Cross-Country Performance

After just 1.1 kilometers, Riiber doubled his lead on Rehrl, who was joined by Lamparter and Rettenegger. Shortly after, Vinzenz Geiger (Germany) and Ilkka Herola (Finland) also joined the chase group.

Despite loose conditions on the Ruka course, there was no snowfall during the race. Halfway through, Lamparter, Geiger, and Herola managed to track down Riiber.

An exciting and close competition ensued up front, but in the end, Riiber and Geiger broke free. Riiber overtook Geiger in the final stretch, while Julian Schmid from Germany secured third place.

Jørgen Graabak improved ten positions to finish sixth, and Andreas Skoglund advanced twelve spots to claim eighth.