Johannes Rydzek (GER) and Eric Frenzel (GER) claimed the Team Sprint HS 130/2×7.5km victory today in Lahti, Finland.

The German duo began the sprint course in first position after a commanding jumping performance.  Their winning time was 24:53.

France , consisting of Jason Lamy Chappuis and François Braud, held second position across the finish but were later disqualified because of an illegal passing violation.

This left the second podium spot to Germany’s second team, Tino Edelmann and Fabian Riessle), whom finished in a time of  25:15.7.

Norway, represented by Mikko Kokslien and Håvard Klemetsen, had been taken out of the medal hunt due to a piece of misfortune.  On the last lap before the finish Kokslien broke a pole and the battle for the podium spot was relinquished to the German second team.  After the disqualification of the French, the Norwegians were promoted to 3rd place, finishing in a time of 25:17.0

Behind the front runners a tight battle was waged for places between Austria I, Japan I, and Austria II, whom finished in 4th, 5th, and 6th places respectively.  The result was disappointing for both Japan I and Austria II, whom couldn’t capitalize on promising 2nd and 3rd starting positions.

The United States, represented by Bryan and Taylor Fletcher, skied to a 7th place finish, neither gaining or losing a place from their 8th place starting position (Given the disqualification of France).  They finished in a time of 25:48.6, 55.6 seconds out of the win.

Results

Germany demonstrated their strength in depth Sunday in Sochi, Russia, winning the men’s HS140/4×5 k team event by a commanding margin of 2.7 seconds over the second placed French team.

The German team consisted of Johannes Rydzek, Björn Kircheisen, Manuel Faisst and Eric Frenzel.  Frenzel had to subdue the charge of Frenchman Jason Lamy Chappuis, a close rival in the overall Nordic Combined standings.

Manuel Faisst (GER), started off proceedings with a strong first leg which allowed subsequent runners Johannes Rydzek (GER) and Björn Kircheisen (GER) to set up Frenzel for the expectant showdown of Frenzel and Chappuis (FRA).

Frenzel precluded any late heroics by Chappuis by skiing away from his rival; Germany finished in a time of 51:23.3.

Austria completed the podium, trailing in in a time of 51:32.6, 9.3 seconds behind the winning time of Germany.

The United States skied to a seventh-place finish in a time of 53:14.2, 1:51.1 behind Germany.

Results

At the moment, no one can touch Eric Frenzel (GER) when he’s on form.

Frenzel (GER) took his 4th straight victory in Klingenthal, Germany today, this time in the penalty race.  The german finished in 23:21.1, 22.4 seconds ahead of country man Tino Edelmann (GER).  Frenzel (GER) performance was superior, jumping to a first place finish and then steadily extending his lead in the 10km ski race

Perhaps on the strength of home advantage, the Germans swept the podium, with third place secured by Johannes Rydzek (GER) in a time of 23:55.5.

Brian Fletcher (USA) returned another strong performance, finishing in 8th place after a 7th placed jump.  He finished in a time of 24.02.5.

Teammate Bill Demong (USA) improved upon his performance yesterday, finishing the Penalty race in 12th place after a last place jump.  He crossed the line in 24:45.4

No other Americans qualified for the skiing competition.

Results

Jan Schmid of Norway tallied his second Nordic Combined World Cup victory of the season in Lahti, Finland, on Saturday, the third-last event on the circuit this year.

Schmid skied the seventh-fastest 10 k after placing 12th in the jumping portion. Tino Edelmann (GER) was second by 4.3 seconds after starting in second, but fell to 21st in the race. Another German, Johannes Rydzek notched his first podium of the season in third.

American Bryan Fletcher finished seventh (+16.5), missing the podium by about 11 seconds. He was coming off the fourth-best jump and ranked 20th in the ski.

“Close to the Podium again today,” Fletcher tweeted after the race. “I need to work on my strategy… Two more shots next week!”

Taylor Fletcher was 26th (+1:51.4) with the 15th-fastest race split, and Nick Hendrickson finished 50th for the U.S.

The final weekend of competition kicks off March 9-10 in Oslo, Norway.

Complete results