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Dawid Kubacki showed the best jumps on the Bergisel
Photo: LISI NIESNER / REUTERS
World Cup leader Dawid Kubacki from Poland won the third competition of the Four Hills Tournament in Innsbruck, but was only able to move a few points closer to the top of the overall tournament ranking.
On the Bergisel, Kubacki (127 and 121.5 meters) took just 3.5 points off the Norwegian Halvor Egner Granerud (123 and 133 meters), who had previously won the competitions in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, despite a clear lead after the first round .
Third place went to Slovenia's Anže Lanišek (127 and 121.5 meters).
For the German jumpers, the competition was the debacle that had already been indicated in the qualification: While top jumper Karl Geiger didn't even make it into the top 50, Stephan Leyhe missed the second round as 33rd.
The other DSV athletes were also unable to compete for the top positions, the best German was youngster Philipp Raimund in 13th place.
The first round was characterized by the changing winds that afflict Schanze am Bergisel year after year.
Top favorite Granerud was unlucky, but with back conditions it was still enough for 123 meters.
Damage limitation for the Norwegian - thanks to the wind points, the distance was still enough for the front field.
Even if Stefan Kraft jumped significantly further than Granerud with the previous best jump of 129.5 meters, the Austrian was only able to place himself just ahead of the previous tour dominator on points.
Granerud top again with better wind
In view of the more favorable winds, the competition management decided to shorten the inrun before the best in the qualification.
Despite the lower hatch, Kubacki, Anže Lanišek and Kamil Stoch each jumped 127 meters and pulled away from the competition – especially from Granerud, who had jumped with more inruns.
In the second round, Granerud proved that his loss of points was mainly due to the conditions: In a slight upwind, the Norwegian flew to 133 meters and used the clean Telemark landing to outclass the competition.
It was enough for the day's victory due to the gap to Kubacki, who is again on track with less effort, but no more.
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