Christoph Bieler unbeatable
in Austrian summer nationals
Two competition days meant two victories for Austrian
team veteran Christoph Bieler who claimed the titles
on the normal and on the large hill this weekend.
On Saturday, he won the title after jumping on the
Brunnentalschanze in Stams and roller-skiing in
Seefeld. In the pouring rain, he set the longest
jump of 111 metres and was able to have quite a
relaxed race on the roller-ski track in Seefeld,
going into the competition with a head start of
1 minute and 14 seconds. Bielers closest follower
was Lukas Klapfer with a jump of 100 metres and
Lukas Greiderer who jumped 97,5 metres. He started
1:23 after Bieler.
In the race, the 19th fastest cross-country time
was enough for Bieler to cross the finish line 12,6
seconds ahead of Harald Lemmerer who worked his
way on to the podium from rank 10 by setting the
fastest time on the track with 26:15.4. National
team member Mario Seidl came in third, 13.4 seconds
after Bieler and with the second-fastest cross-country
time, a remarkable feat for young Seidl who is usually
known as one of Nordic Combined's strong ski jumpers.
On Sunday, it was time for the large hill in Innsbruck
where Bieler once again was unbeatable on four-hills-tournament-hill
Berg Isel. The Austrian jumping sensation set a
jump of 129 metres, gaining 51 seconds for the cross-country
race on runner-up Lukas Klapfer who only jumped
122,5 metres. Mario Seidl slowly worked his way
towards the top of the jumping result list and also
landed 122,5 metres, meaning that him and Klapfer
went out on the 10 kilometre roller-ski track in
the city centre of Fulpmes (home to Nordic Combined
veteran Willi Denifl) at the same time.
On roller-skis, Bieler was also not to be caught
up with and he finally won 25 seconds ahead of his
national teammate Mario Seidl. Bieler's fellow Tyrolean
David Pommer claimed the third spot of honour. The
fastest cross-country time, however, came from Bernhard
Flaschberger who improved an intermediate 32nd rank
to a final 18th one.
