Young Austrian Paul Gerstgraser has captured the win in the first snow competition held in Rovaniemi, Finland today. The international competition brought together starters from the Austrian and Finnish teams in a first test before the World Cup season will kick off in Ruka in just two weeks.

Next to Gerstgraser, teammate Bernhard Flaschberger and Finnish team leader Ilkka Herola stood on the podium in Rovaniemi.

With 131.5 points, the jumping victory went to Fabian Steindl who confirmed his strong jumping shape which he already showcased in the Summer Grand Prix. Herola followed with 124.5 points which meant 28 seconds of time behind for the cross-country race. On a very fast track (winner Paul Gerstgraser just needed 21:11:0 for the 10 kilometres), Herola caught up with Steindl fast but was then left to his own devices for the rest of the race, a fact that Gerstgraser and Flaschberger used for themselves, overtaking a tired Herola and beating out the local hero by 2.5 and 0.5 seconds in the end.

The ranks four to six went to Austria’s Tobias Kammerlander, Tomaz Druml and Lukas Greiderer.

„It turned out to be a pretty tough day for skiing“, Herola reported later about the race. „After I overtook the leader Fabian Steindl, I was all alone doing all the work out there, with a group of ten Austrians ten seconds on my back. But I am happy, I’m not worried. In a way, all went as expected. It was a good preparation for the World Cup in Ruka.“