TRONDHEIM, Norway -- Germany's Ronny Ackermann won his second Nordic combined event of the season Saturday, edging Finland's Hannu Manninen.
Ackermann, who shared victory with Austria's Christoph Bieler in the ski jumping portion earlier in the day, finished the 15-kilometer freestyle cross country race in 34 minutes, 47.4 seconds to defeat Manninen by 20.6 seconds. Austrian Felix Gottwald placed third, 22.9 seconds behind.
Manninen, the defending overall champion, was a distant 18th in the ski jumping and started the race 1:49 behind Ackermann and Bieler. A superb skier, Manninen nearly made up the gap.
Bieler was fourth, 42.9 seconds behind. American Todd Lodwick, who was second to Manninen in the sprint opener in Finland last weekend, finished sixth in the combined event, 53.5 seconds back.
Last year's World Cup sprint champion, Johnny Spillane of the United States, was eighth, 1:08.2 behind.
