Germany’s Richard Freitag won the third round of the Four Hills at Innsbruck on Sunday ahead of home hope Stefan Kraft who moved closer to the overall title.
Freitag, 23, and Kraft, 21, were level after the first jump but the German pulled ahead after his second attempt — 132m to the Austrian’s 127m.
Kraft won the first leg in Oberstdorf on December 28 and finished sixth at Garmisch-Partenkirchen on New Year’s Day, to take the overall lead in the tournament.
Veterans Simon Ammann, 33, and Japan’s Noriaki Kasai, 42, tied for third place on Sunday. It was the 78th career podium for Switzerland’s Ammann.
The final event of the Four Hills takes place Tuesday at Bischofhofen in Austria.
Results:
1. Richard Freitag (GER) 278.5 pts (133.5m + 132.0m), 2. Stefan Kraft (AUT) 273.5 (137.0 m + 127.0 m), 3=. Simon Ammann (SUI) 263.7 (132.0 m + 130.5 m), . Noriaki Kasai (JPN) 263.7 (128.5 + 132.0 m), 5. Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT) 262.4 (127.0 m + 129.5 m), 6. Michael Hayboeck (AUT) 257.5 (125.0 m + 138.0 m), 7. Kamil Stoch (POL) 252.8 (127.0 m + 130.0 m)
Overall Four Hills standings (after three rounds):
1. Stefan Kraft (AUT) 835.4 pts, 2. Michael Hayboeck (AUT) 812.3, 3. Peter Prevc (SLO) 806.0, 4. Noriaki Kasai (JPN) 797.7, 5. Richard Freitag (GER) 791.7, 6. Anders Jacobsen (NOR) 789.5, 7. Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT) 785.6, 8. Kamil Stoch (POL) 771.5
Selected: 19. Simon Ammann (SUI) 652.2
Overall World Cup standings (after 12 rounds):
1. Michael Hayboeck (AUT) 589pts, 2. Stefan Kraft (AUT) 557, 3. Roman Koudelka (CZE) 556, 4. Anders Fannemel (NOR) 537, 5. Peter Prevc (SLO) 534, 6. Simon Ammann (SUI) 530
Selected: 8. Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT) 436, 9. Noriaki Kasai (JPN) 360, 18. Anders Jacobsen (NOR) 153, 23. Kamil Stoch (POL) 102