Norwegians Magnus Moan and Mikko Kokslien won a World Cup nordic combined team sprint in Val di Fiemme, Italy today (Feb. 4) with a time of 36:25.1. Second place went to Frenchmen Maxime Laheurte and Jason Lamy Chappuis, followed by the team France II of Francois Braud and Sebastien Lacroix.

“The team sprint is probably the hardest format we have in Nordic Combined, especially on this track,” said Moan, “Our plan was to not use all our energy in the first two laps and also to close the gap to France as soon as possible and then try to take control of the leading group. The plan worked really well and we both were skiing fast.”

In the final lap, Moan skied strongly and did not leave the others a chance, making sure to have a sufficient lead before the final downhill to ensure victory for Norway I. In the final sprint, Lamy Chappuis beat France II’s Lacroix while edging German Fabien Riessle off the podium. Moan had the fastest cross-country racing time.

Americans Billy Demong and Bryan Fletcher took sixth. The team was seeded fifth after the jump, but fell one spot in the cross country race. The duo’s combined efforts helped close the gap, finishing just over 19 seconds behind Moan and Kokslien.

“It was an exciting race today with great jumping from all four guys. Both teams were in the hunt halfway through the race,” said U.S. Nordic Combined Coach Dave Jarrett. “Billy was there at the end for the podium but couldn’t quite match the short burst up the last hill and got dropped a bit. Still two in the top 10 is a good. We know we are putting ourselves in position to podium almost every weekend but haven’t had things line up quite right yet. It is coming.”