Norway's Jarl Magnus Riiber was the winner at Holmenkollen, followed by Stefan Rettenger of Austria in second. To claim third, Ilves managed to overhaul Austria's Franz-Josef Rehrl, who had started the 10km cross-country race in third, and was still 13 seconds ahead of the Estonian at the halfway point.

With 2.5 kilometers to go, the Estonian was already on Rehrl's tail, and in the final kilometers Ilves showed his class by overtaking the Austrian.

Ilves who crossed the finish line with a time of 26 minutes,13.8 seconds to earn the tenth podium finish of his career.

The 27-year-old Estonian has finished on the podium four times so far this season and currently lies fifth overall in the men's Nordic Combined World Cup standings. "I said at the beginning of the season that it would be much, much harder to be in the top six this year than in previous seasons," said Ilves.

"This year has shown, that from the beginning of the season, I have been able to compete at a high level. To be near the podium and in the top ten all the time. The season has really gone well. At the end, when the podiums came in, that was the icing on the cake," he added.

The final event of the season takes place in Trondheim, Norway on March 17.

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