Nordic combined: the express sprint, a new type of race tested on the Continental Cup
The Nordic combined world had a curious eye on Eisenerz (Austria) on Saturday 17 January. After inaugurating the compact and mass-start, now adopted in the World Cup, the FIS tested a new format: the express sprint. Divided into four heats, this format favours the jumpers.
In the same way as in the compact, the gaps in cross-country skiing are defined first and foremost by the place in the ski jump, and not by the points obtained. These are deliberately large, by 10 seconds. This means that the last starter in the men’s race started 10 min 20 behind the leader! At the end of the 1500 m cross-country skiing race, the top 30 finishers qualify for the second series, and the times at the finish are used to determine the gaps at the start. The same system was used for a third heat of 20 and a final heat of 10.
Herman Happonen, from 27th place to the podium in 6 km
For this first race, the poor cross-country skiers were understandably punished. Finnish number 1 Eemeli Kurttila was relegated to 18th place. On the other hand, there were a few comebacks. The most spectacular was that of Finn Herman Happonen. He started in 27th place with a 4:10 lead over eventual Austrian winner Andreas Gfrerer, but ended up in 3rd place by setting one of the three best ski times in each heat.
On the French side, the best performance went to TomRochat. The SC Xonrupt rider started 22nd, but always set one of the four best times on the track. He gradually worked his way up to 15th place, then 10th and then 7th. He finally finished sixth after the 6km, just four seconds off the podium. He equalled his best continental cup result, achieved in January 2025 on the mass-start in Schonach (Germany). The day after his 10th place in the gundersen, Lubin Martin narrowly missed out in the first heat. He finished two seconds behind the qualifier and 31st. Lilian Tréand finished 49th and Simon Pagnier 50th.
In the women’s event, Slovenia’s Tia Malovrh completed the double on the day after her victory. Laly Pingat finished 9th, ahead of Loa Jeantet (15th) and Anaëlle Paris (17th), who fell back after finishing sixth in the pocket jump, which was eventually retained.
Men’s classification for the Eisenerz express sprint
2026NK4238ROFWomen’s classification for the Eisenerz express sprint
2026NK4239ROFMen’s continental cup overall
2026NK4238STCWomen’s continental cup overall
2026NK4239STC- Maël Tyrode’s great comeback, impressive sixth place in the Ruka Continental Cup
- Mattéo Baud finishes top 10 at the Ruka Continental Cup
- Klingenthal Continental Cup: Tom Rochat sixteenth in the individual compact after climbing 21 places
- Klingenthal Continental Cup: Tom Rochat eighteenth in the gundersen, victory for Austria’s Florian Kolb
- Klingenthal Continental Cup: Tom Rochat in the top 30 in the gundersen, another win for Florian Kolb
- The French team selected for the continental cup in Eisenerz
- Eisenerz: Lubin Martin finishes top 10 in the Continental Cup after a great run on skis
