Riessle on top as Germans continue Nordic combined dominance

After Johannes Rydzek won his fourth World Cup of the season on Saturday, Riessle hit back to take the second race of the weekend in Chaux-Neuve.

Riessle scored 128.7 on the HS118 hill in France, enough for eighth in the first phase, before again clocking the eighth best time of 22:00.0 in the cross country.

Rydzek could only manage 126.9 points from his jump, before posting the second fastest time of 21:54.2 in the cross country, but he still trailed 2.2s behind his compatriot.

And it was a German 1-2-3 as Eric Frenzel, the overall World Cup leader, finished 7.9s behind the winner after scoring the fourth highest jump with 131.2, before clocking 22:17.9 in the cross country – only the 18th fastest time of the day.

The results mean Rydzek has cut Frenzel's lead at the top of the standings to just 14 points, with Riessle a distant third on 721 – 209 behind Rydzek.

And Kircheisen Bjoern makes it four Germans in the World Cup's top five with 466 points after 12 of 22 events, just 23 behind Japan's Akito Watabe.

Action continues with the fourth Nordic Combined Triple in Seefeld, Austria, next weekend.

Sportsbeat 2017