Bernhard Gruber grabs first World Cup win of the season
BySportsbeat
Updated 30/01/2015 at 17:30 GMT
Austria's Bernhard Gruber finally got himself on the top spot of the World Cup podium this season after a weather-affected individual competition in Val Di Fiemme.
NORDIC COMBINED Bernhard Gruber at the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Liberec
Image credit: Imago
With high winds around the Italian valley, the decision was taken to cancel the jumping round with the provisional competition results used to determine the order for the 10km ski stage.
It put Norway's Thomas Kjelbotn out front with a 0.26 second lead after scoring 112.1 from his jump while Gruber, winner of team gold at Vancouver 2010, was lying down in sixth, 0.47 seconds back.
But Kjelbotn could not maintain his charge on the skis and was quickly overtaken, eventually coming home in 13th after crossing the line in a time of 29:48.9.
Gruber meanwhile was on the charge, moving up the field to finish in 28.26.9 minutes, almost eight seconds clear of his nearest challenger in the form of Norway's Jan Schmid.
Third went to Schmid's compatriot Joergen Graabak but it was Gruber who was celebrating after adding to the two silvers and a bronze already won this World Cup season.
It leaves him third in the overall standings, just one point behind Japan's Akito Watabe, absent in Italy, while standout leader Eric Frenzel moves onto 861 points after placing sixth.
� Sportsbeat 2015
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