Austria's Klapfer wins his 1st Nordic combined World Cup

SCHONACH, Germany (AP) Lukas Klapfer of Austria defeated Japan's Akito Watabe for his first Nordic combined World Cup win on Sunday. The 29-year-old Klapfer

SCHONACH, Germany (AP) Lukas Klapfer of Austria defeated Japan's Akito Watabe for his first Nordic combined World Cup win on Sunday.

The 29-year-old Klapfer finished strongly to complete the event in 24 minutes, 38.2 seconds, one second ahead of Watabe and 2.3 ahead of Norway's Jan Schmid, who had made a late burst before being overtaken.

Norway's Haavard Klemetsen claimed the intermediate lead after winning the ski jump section with a jump of 102 meters for 129.8 points. Yoshito Watabe, Akito's younger brother, was second after jumping 101.5 meters, while Klapfer was well placed in third after a jump of 100. The Austrian started the 10-kilometer cross country section with a 15 second delay.

French star Jason Lamy Chappuis could only finish 40th after a disappointing jump.