Double Olympic Champion Kamil Stoch of Poland took his 16th win in the World Cup in a difficult competition in Lillehammer. This was the first World Cup win for Stoch (134 m and 130.5 m; 289.9 points) since January 2015 (Willingen).

With his second place, only 0.6 points behind the winner, Stoch's teammate Maciej Kot (129.5 m and 136 m; 289.3 points) secured the first double victory for the Polish team and their head coach Stefan Horngacher. The third place went to Germany's Markus Eisenbichler (128.5 m and 135 m; 286.2 points). For him this was, just like for Kot, the first podium result in the World Cup.

The day's form decides

"It's been a while since my last win. After my second jump I didn't expect to be on the podium, I thought I would be fourth and fifth again", Stoch said after his triumph. "We (Stoch and Kot) were already jumping on a high level yesterday, but the others are so strong at the moment that it depends on your shape on the exact day of the competition whether you are on the podium or close behind." 

Maciej Kot, who already showed what he's capable of last summer, was very satisfied after his second place. "This was a very difficult competition for me today, especially the first jump. Of course I'm happy that it was enough for the podium, but the season is still young and we still have a lot of work ahead of us", Maciej Kot said about the best result of his career in the World Cup.

For 25-year-old Eisenbichler the first podium result of his career was a bit of a surprise, but after his performances over the past weeks many experts considered Eisenbichler one of the contestants for top results. "It feels great to be on the podium. I didn't expect that it would go that well today. I'm more than happy right now and it's still a bit hard to believe. The first jump was not that good today, but I will not complain", Eisenbichler said after the competition.

Andreas Wellinger (10th), Karl Geiger (14th), Stephan Leyhe (18th), Richard Freitag (23rd) and Severin Freund (26th) completed the result of the German team. Severin Freund had bad wind conditions, the winner of the competition in Kuusamo had no chance to achieve a top result and now has to move on after today's disappointment. 

Top athletes with tail wind in the first round 

The conditions were extremely difficult for the last group of competitors in the first round. So Domen Prevc, Daniel Andre Tande of Norway, Stefan Kraft and Severin Freund had practically no chance to be among the best.

Tande with a highlight

Norway's Daniel Andre Tande, currently second in the overall World Cup, had really bad luck. Despite a top jump he was only 23rd after the first round. In the final the 23-year-old then showed what he's capable of right now. With the best jump in the second round (141 m) he moved up from 23rd to fourth overall. "I was so mad after my first jump. For the first time I had two good jumps today and then I had no chance with such bad conditions", said Tande, who could still feel like one of the winners today after his outstanding performance in the final round.

Austria's Stefan Kraft was not as strong as Tande today, but still he did very well. He was 21st after the first round due to the tail wind and moved up to eighth with his second jump. With Manuel Fettner in 6th and Michael Hayboeck in 11th it was a good day for the team of head coach Heinz Kuttin. 

Switzerland, Finland and France not in the final

The second day of competition in Lillehammer turned out to be a big disappointment for the Swiss athletes. A 38th place for Simon Ammann and the places 49 and 50 for Kilian Peier and Gregor Deschwanden are of course not good enough. Now the team of coach Ronnie Hornschuh has to make amends next weekend in their home event in Engelberg.

Vincent Descombes Sevoie of France also became a victim of the difficult conditions at the end of the first round. With a 43rd place today he lost his Top 10 spot in the overall World Cup and is now 12th. Janne Ahonen already failed to make the cut in the qualification, Ville Larinto was 35th and missed the final of the best 30.

Domen Prevc in the lead, Freund now fourth

A sixth place today was enough for only 17-year-old Slovene Domen Prevc to defend his lead in the overall World (360 points). Daniel Andre Tande is second with 308 points) and Maciej Kot (247 points) is now third, followed by Severin Freund (233 points).

Next weekend two World Cup competitions will be held in Engelberg (SUI).

Source: fis-ski.com