Tande was in ominous form from the outset as he jumped a hill record distance of 238.5 metres in qualification.

The Norwegian, third in last year's overall World Cup standings, then safely negotiated the arduous conditions with jumps of 212m and 227m for a total of 449.6 points.

Germany's Richard Freitag, who received a warm ovation from the crowd after returning from a hip injury, is second on 438.7 points.

Freitag remains in contention for the title thanks to efforts of 228m and 225m.

Poland's Kamil Stoch, the double Olympic champion, registered jumps of 230m and 219m to end the day in third on 431.8 points.

The overall winner will be crowned tomorrow after all 30 athletes have jumped twice.

At the women's Ski Jumping World Cup event in Zao in Japan, Norway's Maren Lundby secured her fourth consecutive victory with another dominant performance.

The Norwegian recorded the two furthest leaps of the competition - 101.5m and 100m - to top the podium on a total of 260.9 points.

Austria’s Chiara Hoelzl was 41.6 points adrift in second place after she registered jumps of 94.5m and 94m respectively. 

Irina Avvakumova of Russia did enough for third place with a score of 216.8 points after she jumped 93m and 93.5m.

Lundby has a commanding 160-point advantage in the race for the overall women's crown as she has 660.

Germany's Katharina Althaus is second on 500 and third is occupied by Japan's Sara Takanashi on 410 points.

The team competition is due to be held tomorrow.