CHAUX NEUVE, France (Jan. 12) – Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) earned his first nordic combined World Cup podium Sunday, finishing third behind Austrian Felix Gottwald in an individual event. Gottwald crushed the field, beating Germany's Ronny Ackermann by 45 seconds with Lodwick 1:42.5 out and the next skiers nearly a half-minute farther back. An ailing Johnny Spillane (also Steamboat) was 13th in jumping but did not start the 15-km race.

Lodwick was fifth in the jumping and started a few seconds ahead of the top two, but couldn't keep up with Gottwald, the 2001 World Cup champ, and Ackermann, the 2002 champion, once they pulled away on the six-lap course.

“Those guys were too tough today. I think I went out pretty fast,” Lodwick said. “It was a hard course – what? 42 minutes? 44? It was so long, and so hilly…”

“With Todd on the podium, this was a good way to end the Central Europe phase of the schedule,” said Coach Corby Fisher. “The weather was good but it was definitely a full-on wind comp; the first 20 guys in the first round [of K90 jumping] had great headwind and the last 20 guys had really bad tailwind, but Todd and Johnny had the longest jumps of the top guys in that first round. It was a funky day.

“But Todd's jumping has come a long way in these last two weeks. He was a champ today; this course is vicious – it's all hills and he kept pounding. It's a good way to go home for a couple of days before we head to Japan.”

Spillane (also Steamboat), who has been battling a cold and has a sore shoulder from a training crash earlier in the week in Ramsau, Austria, was 13th in the jumping but did not start the 15-km race. “He's got nothing to gain by pounding himself in the race, traveling home for a couple of days and then going to Japan and back,” said Fisher. “We want Johnny healthy for more important events; he'll be ready for those big hills in Japan.”

The World Cup resumes Jan. 22 with a sprint event on the 1998 Olympic venues in Hakuba, Japan.

Warsteiner Nordic Combined World Cup Chaux Neuve, FRA – Jan. 12, 2003

Individual – K90/15-km
1. Felix Gottwald, Austria, (6-2)
2. Ronny Ackermann, Germany, (11/3) 45.3 seconds back
3. Todd Lodwick, Steamboat Springs, CO, (5/11) 1:42.5
4. Christoph Bieler, Austria, (4/19) 2:07.4
5. Wilhelm Denifl, Austria, (2/23) 2:07.4
–
DNF: Johnny Spillane, Steamboat Springs, CO
—
World Cup Standings (9 events)
1. Ackermann, 595 points
2. Bjoern Kircheisen, Germany, 546
3. Hannu Manninen, Finland, 514
4. Samppa Lajunen, Finland, 491
5. Gottwald, 354
–
6. Spillane, 338
8. Lodwick, 278