Austria dominates as summer Nordic Combined tour closes in Chaux-Neuve
Austrian athletes Fabio Obermeyr and Katharina Gruber claimed the top prizes at the Chaux-Neuve Summer Grand Prix on Saturday, sweeping the men's and women's Gundersen events on the final day of the 2026 Nordic Combined summer tour. Three Germans filled out the men's podium while Annalena Slamik gave Austria a second women's medal.
Obermeyr hunts down three Germans in the final lap
In the men's Gundersen, Richard Stenzel set the agenda in the ski jump phase, recording 113 metres to start the 10 km roller-ski pursuit in first position. But the 25-year-old Obermeyr — born on 8 August 2000 and competing for the Austrian national team — proved the stronger skier and pulled clear in the closing lap to win the race. David Mach (Germany) held on for second, Stenzel came through for third, and his compatriot Simon Mach completed a remarkable all-German supporting cast in fourth. France's Maël Tyrode was the best-placed non-German or Austrian athlete, finishing fifth, while Gaël Blondeau — who had been the top French jumper in the Gundersen phase — crossed the line eighth.
Obermeyr's victory is the most prominent result of his summer to date. He had also been among the leading contenders at the earlier Grand Prix stops in Bischofshofen and Oberstdorf, where compatriot Thomas Rettenegger had taken the Gundersen title. The consistency of the Austrian squad across all three stages of the tour signals a squad that is maturing quickly ahead of the winter World Cup calendar.
Gruber leads from start to finish in the women's event
Katharina Gruber had already signalled her intentions by winning the reserve round earlier in the weekend. In the Gundersen she followed that up with a 114-metre ski jump to take the leading bib into the 5 km roller-ski pursuit, and she was never seriously challenged. Gruber won in 13 minutes 27.9 seconds, with Annalena Slamik (Austria) finishing 50 seconds behind for silver. Germany's Nathalie Armbruster took bronze, approximately one minute back. France's Romane Baud had delivered a sixth-place effort in the jump phase but the French women did not reach the top ten in the overall combined standings.
End of the 2026 summer tour — what comes next
Chaux-Neuve brought down the curtain on a three-stop 2026 summer Nordic Combined circuit that had previously visited Bischofshofen (won by Jens Luraas Oftebro on the men's side) and Oberstdorf (Rettenegger). The women's circuit has also provided strong performances throughout, underscoring the depth growing in that discipline ahead of its expanded World Cup calendar.
No FIS announcement on the 2026/27 World Cup schedule has yet been made public, but the Chaux-Neuve results leave Obermeyr and Gruber as arguably the strongest summer performers heading into the winter build-up. Both will now prepare for national team autumn camps before the season opener, expected in late November.