A strong jump of 125.5 metres from Rydzek and of 114.5m from Rießle put the team in second place at the end of the ski jumping, beaten only by Jan Schmid and Jarl Riiber of Norway.

The Norwegian duo had a 57-second advantage heading into the cross country over the Germans, with Austrians Bernhard Gruber and Lukas Klapfer in hot pursuit.

Rydzek and Rießle impressively made-up the gap, skiing with the Norwegians for another lap as tactical games began approaching the finish.

Then disaster struck, as Riiber's shoulder dislocated mid-run.

He first attempted to ski on, his face contorted with pain, before eventually being forced to stop and receive first aid from the team physiotherapist by the side of the track. 

This left Schmid with no partner as the team failed to finish.

Rydzek and Rießle thus won in 32min 57.9sec to finish 18 seconds clear of the chasing Gruber and Klapfer.

A second Austrian pairing of Franz-Josef Rehrl and Philipp Orter beat Germany's Tino Edelmann and Manuel Faißt in a riveting photo finish to finish third in 33:45.7.

Riiber was taken to hospital but has since been discharged, with no broken bones or other serious damage.

It came after a wrong turn cost Riiber victory in yesterday's individual event in the Finnish resort, allowing Germany's Eric Frenzel - who did not compete today in the team sprint - to overtake him to claim the gold medal.