Rettenegger soars to stunning Mass Start victory in Ramsau

Thomas Rettenegger (AUT) claimed his second Viessmann FIS Nordic Combined World Cup victory with a stunning Mass Start win in Ramsau, Austria. After finishing 16th in the 10 km cross‑country segment, 48.0 seconds behind winner Jens Luraas Oftebro (NOR), Rettenegger delivered a superb 96.0 m jump on the HS98 hill to take the lead with 136.0 points—an advantage none of the remaining 15 jumpers could overturn.

Rettenegger, 25, began the season with third in Ruka and captured his maiden World Cup victory in Trondheim two weeks earlier, also in a Mass Start. “It was a really great day – I really like Mass Starts,” he said. “On the hill, I did a perfect jump. It was just awesome and it feels really, really good.”

Jens Luraas Oftebro, who dictated much of the pace in the tracks and won the cross‑country in 25:02.6, jumped last and reached 86.0 m to take second by a margin of just 0.1 point over Stefan Rettenegger (AUT), who returned to the podium for the first time since March 2024. Johannes Lamparter (AUT) jumped 93.0 m to sit second temporarily and ultimately finished fourth, extending his overall World Cup lead to 57 points.

The cross‑country race featured a rotating lead pack including Oftebro, Stefan Rettenegger, Vinzenz Geiger (GER), Julian Schmid (GER), and the Skoglund brothers, Andreas and Aleksander (NOR). Ilkka Herola (FIN) and Aaron Kostner (ITA) also moved forward on lap three. Final cross‑country top placings were: Oftebro first, Thomas Rettenegger second (+9.6), Herola third (+13.0), Geiger fourth (+13.7), and Kostner fifth, with Schmid 10th (+34.1) and Lamparter 13th (+39.8).

On the hill, long efforts from Atsusha Narita (JPN, 96.5 m) and Franz‑Josef Rehrl (AUT, 92.5 m) briefly led before Thomas Rettenegger’s decisive 96.0 m jump. Lamparter’s 93.0 m secured fourth overall, while Herola’s 87.5 m maintained his consistent start to the season. Geiger slipped to 13th after an 81.5 m jump, and Schmid placed sixth with 91.0 m.

Full official results are available via FIS Live Results.