Rydzek edges Frenzel for 2nd straight Nordic combined win

By AP
Published

SEEFELD, Austria (AP) Johannes Rydzek edged German teammate Eric Frenzel for his second Nordic combined World Cup win in two days on Saturday.

In a similar scenario to Friday's race, Rydzek overtook Frenzel on the finish stretch and won the 10-kilometer cross-country race 0.1 seconds ahead of the Olympic champion. Coming into the weekend, Frenzel had won all 11 events in the Austrian resort since January 2013.

''It was a really good race, a cool and fair fight,'' said Rydzek, whose 12th career victory gave him the lead in the overall World Cup standings.

Samuel Costa of Italy was 11.3 behind in third, and world champion Bernhard Gruber of Austria trailed by 20.8 in fourth.

Earlier Sunday, Gruber and Costa both had 106.5-meter jumps to share the lead in the competition after the jumping portion. They started the cross-country race together with Rydzek, while Frenzel had a four-second deficit to make up. The four athletes stayed ahead of the field for the entire race.

It was the second event of the Nordic Combined Triple, which adds the results of all three competitions this weekend, with the overall winner on Sunday earning double World Cup points.

Only the top 30 from Saturday's race will be allowed to start in the last event, which consists of two jumps and a 15K cross-country race.