The team sprint event began with the Norwegian pairing of Jan Schmid and Jarl Magnus Riiber earning 227.4 points in the ski jumping section to earn the victory and an advantage leading off in the cross-country section of the event.

Both men worked tirelessly to hold off a large main field, but on his second lap Johannes Rydzek, fresh from two gold medals at last month's World Championships, broke away to set off in pursuit of Riiber on his own.

The gap closed as the duo headed towards the finish line, resulting in the two men colliding and falling onto the snow, with Rydzek breaking a pole and Riiber losing a ski.

Fortunately for Rydzek he was able to finish and seal the win for Germany in 29min 46sec, however Riiber was not as lucky, as he was unable to fix his ski, which saw the 17-year-old and his team mate Schmid disqualified.

It allowed France's Sebastien Lacroix and Jason Lamy-Chappuis to take second in 29:52.9, while the second Norwegian pairing of Magnus Krog and Haavard Klemetsen completed the podium, finishing in 29:53.2.

Erik Brandsdal fought off the competition to win the men's cross country sprint ©AFP/Getty Images



On a busy day of Nordic action, Norway earned gold in both the men and women's cross-country sprints, with Erik Brandsdal and Marit Bjøergen topping the podium in the respective events.

There was success for Norway in the cross-country races with Marit Bjøergen earning her 40th World Cup sprint victory with a time of 2min 59.79sec, to extend her lead at the top of the Sprint World Cup standings to 40 points.

Bjøergen's compatriot Ingvild Flugstad Østberg finished 0.14sec further back to take second, while Kikkan Randall of the US finished third.

The men's competition saw another Norwegian one-two as Erik Brandsdal finished on top of the podium, after producing a winning time of 2min 42.75sec from the 1.5km event.

Sindre Bjoernestad Skar secured his first ever World Cup podium by finishing in second, 0.21 seconds behind the winner, with the podium completed by France's Richard Jouve.

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