Schlierenzauer leads Austrian sweep in Four Hills opener

By Eric Dobias and Uwe Jentzsch Dec 30, 2011, 19:09 GMT

Oberstdorf, Germany - Gregor Schlierenzauer won from ex-champion Andreas Kofler and holder Thomas Morgenstern as Austria swept the podium of a wind-marred Four Hills Tour opener on Friday.

Schlierenzauer prevailed after originally being one of the victims in the original first round which was stopped and annulled after 35 jumpers because of adverse weather and the competition restarted after a 30-minute delay in slightly better conditions.

The Tour de Ski cross-country event had its second stage at another German venue, in Oberhof, with Axel Teichmann winning the men's race in front of a home crowd and holder Justyna Kowalczyk topping the women's event.

Schlierenzauer soared 133 metres and the day's best distance of 137.5 metres for a winning total of 283.3 points in at times heavy snowfall, his 27th career World Cup win.

The World Cup and first-round leader Kofler, who won the Four Hills in 2010, barely stood his second jump after seemingly being caught by a gust of wind and placed second with 265.2 points. Morgenstern had 264.3 points.

Kofler tops the World Cup with 588 points from Schlierenzauer, whose only major missing title is the Four Hills crown.

The other stops are in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (January 1), Innsbruck (January 4) and Bischofshofen (January 6).

In Oberhof, Teichmann moved ahead in the closing stages of the 15-kilometres classic style stage and could not be caught after Swiss Dario Cologna's fall held up the rivals.

Teichmann won from Norwegian prologue winner Petter Northug and Cologna and tops the overall rankings 7.3 seconds ahead of Northug and 12.9 from Cologna.

Kowalczyk made it two-out-of-two stage wins in the women's 10km ahead of Norwegians Therese Johaug (5.2 seconds behind overall) and Marit Bjoergen (12.1 seconds).

The World Cup leader Bjoergen is yet to win the nine-stage race which culminates in the January 8 finale in Val di Fiemme, Italy. The Tour de Ski continues with sprints for men and women on Saturday in Oberhof.