Innsbruck-Igls (pps) Befitting his status as defending World Cup champion, Felix Loch of Germany started into the pre-Olympic season with a victory. At the season-opener of the Viessmann Luge World Cup series in Innsbruck-Igls the Olympic and three-time World champion earned the 11th individual victory of his career. After setting up a new track record in the first run (50.098 seconds) and with a combined time after two runs of 1:40.229 minutes, the 23-year old claimed the podium’s top spot with a winning margin of 0.307 seconds. His compatriots David Moeller, Johannes Ludwig, Andi Langenhan and Ralf Palik finished in second to fifth position, respectively.
>br> Manuel Pfister managed to save the day for the Austrian hosts when he posted a sixth-place finish. World bronze medalist Albert Demchenko of Russia finished in eighth place, right behind Latvia’s Inars Kivlenieks who took seventh place. Two-time Olympic and six-time World champion Armin Zoeggeler, on 19th place after the first run, had to make to with 9th place.
>br> Quotes
>br> Felix Loch (GER / Olympic and three-time World champion) “That was a great start into the new season with two very good runs. To be honest, I even botched curve nine a bit in the first run. I’m happy to have further improved the track record compared to last year.”
>br>David Moeller (GER / Olympic silver medalist and two-time World champion)
>br>“It was tough to go into the race as number 32. Felix, with number 26, was able to set the bar really high. My set-up was tuned to optimum conditions.”
>br>Johannes Ludwig (GER / 2012 World 4th-placed) “I’m really pleased with the result – fourth place last year and now a third-place finish. That’s an improvement. However, I’m not absolutely happy with my performance at the start. Even Felix was faster than me in the first run. Well, I hope to improve my starts during the course of the season.”
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