January 5, 2008 (Schonach, Germany) – Montana-born Jason Lamy Chappuis, who skis for France, out-legged Bill Demong for a Nordic combined World Cup sprint victory Saturday in the German Grand Prix by 0.2 seconds in an intermittent light rain. Johnny Spillane was 20th and Canadian Max Thompson 37th.

Lamy Chappuis (www.flying-jason.com) was third in jumping and started the 7.5km race 30 seconds ahead of Demong, who was 12th in the one round of jumping. They skied as part of a pack through the final two laps before the Frenchman staged a jail break late in the third and final lap and just managed to hold off the fast-closing, three-time Olympian.

“I just couldn’t catch back up to him at the end,” Demong said. “I moved up fast at the start of the race, but I had to slow myself down because I didn’t want everyone getting a free ride [draughting behind him]…and then we skied together until the final km or so.”

In the sprint, competitors get one round of jumping – in Schonach, it’s on a 96-meter hill – and a 7.5km race.

In a sprint, a strong start is vital, especially if there is a pack of skiers tightly bunched. Saturday, the first 17 skiers from the round of jumping were within 60 seconds of each other under the handicap-start formula for the race. Demong said he wanted to get past as many as he could as soon as possible and tore out of the start.

Resembling Pac-man chewing through the field of skiers, he moved up to fourth place by the end of the first 2.5km lap and was second, one of six skiers within 1.6 seconds of each other. At the end of the second lap, he was in a tie for second place, 0.3 seconds behind Magnus Moan of Norway, who edged him by one-tenth of a second in another World Cup event on New Year’s Eve eve (last Sunday).

In the end, Lamy Chappuis, born in Missoula in 1986 while his French parents were students at the University of Montana, had too much of a break for Demong to reel him in. He held on for the fourth win of his career. For Demong, it was his fourth podium of the season, his second straight almost-but-not-quite second place.

Lamy Chappuis said he had been frustrated with his jumping early in the season and intensified his jump training through the holidays. When he was third in jumping Saturday, he said he knew Demong and Moan would be after him, “so I tried to keep some power for the end during the two rounds.

“I attacked at the last hill, pretty close to the stadium. I knew it was my last chance and I took it.”

Demong wanted the win but was philosophical. “It’s not as if I was fourth in jumping and lost by two-tenths,” he said. The Frenchman needed 29.8 seconds of his 30-second head start.

The Grand Prix, which is part of the World Cup, finishes Sunday with an individual (i.e., 15km race) competition. Heavy rain Saturday afternoon appeared to threaten the event, though, because it was chewing through the snowpack.

Full results here.