Norway’s Magnus Moan wins Nordic combined World Cup event; Billy Demong of US is 4th

Moan of Norway wins Nordic combined; Demong 4th

CHAUX-NEUVE, France — Magnus Moan of Norway won a Nordic combined World Cup event Sunday, and Billy Demong of the U.S. was fourth.

Moan finished the cross-country race in 24 minutes, 10.8 seconds to edge overall leader Jason Lamy Chappuis of France by a second.

Mario Stecher of Austria was third, 13.6 seconds behind Moan. Demong, of Vermontville, N.Y., was another 1.2 seconds back.

“It was a solid race, for sure, but I was pretty tired at the finish and lost the sprint to Magnus, Jason and Mario,” Demong said. “But, all-in-all it felt like a very strong day and I think it’s the feeling I’m looking for going into this training period right before the Olympics.”

Todd Lodwick and Johnny Spillane, both of Steamboat Springs, Colo., were 13th and 16th.

Demong finished ninth in the jumping and started 50 seconds behind the lead group. The 2009 world champion in the mass start event moved up to fourth after 2.8 kilometers. Demong drew within eight seconds of the leaders before fatigue set in.

“Bill had a great race, but Magnus caught him,” U.S. coach Dave Jarrett said. “He skied with Magnus the whole race and they traded off spots. Magnus made a move at the end and Billy covered him, but at the top of the hill he was just a little bit cooked from it.”

The U.S. team will gather in Utah the first week of February for a final training camp before the Vancouver Games.

“It’s time for us to come home, regroup and get ready for the Olympics,” Jarrett said.