A sporty start into the new year with the World Cup at the Sauerland

Preview 3rd EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup, Winterberg (GER):
A sporty start into the new year with the World Cup at the Sauerland

Winterberg (FIL/03 Jan 2024) After returning from overseas and the well-deserved Christmas break, the best luge athletes will start the new year in a sporty way this weekend. The 3rd EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup takes place from January 5 to 7, 2024 in the VELTIN Ice Arena in Winterberg (GER). A total of 125 sleds from 22 nations have registered for the World Cup, with 40 women and 43 men competing in the single-seater and 17 women's and 25 men's doubles. In addition to the World Cup races, the second of six team relays as part of the EBERSPAECHER Team Relay World Cup presented by BMW is scheduled for Sunday.

Taubitz, Langenhan, Egle/Kipp and Steu/Kindl lead the overall World Cup standings

The two World Cup races in Lake Placid (USA) and Whistler (CAN) proved that it will be an exciting World Cup season. After three out of twelve World Cup races in the World Championship winter, it is worth taking a first look at the overall World Cup standings. Julia Taubitz and Max Langenhan (both Germany) and the Austrian doubles Selina Egle/Lara Kipp and Thomas Steu/Wolfgang Kindl are leading the World Cup rankings at the start of the year.

Steu/Kindl in particular can be more than satisfied with their start into the season. Both are competing in their first doubles season together and are the only men's doubles team to finish on the podium at all three World Cup events, in second place in each case. They lead ahead of Wendl/Arlt (GER) and Bots/Plume (LAT). Max Langenhan was the only one to get off to an even better start in the ice track. The 24-year-old German won all three races and claimed his ninth consecutive World Cup victory across the season. He leads the ranking ahead of the two Austrians Jonas Müller and Nico Gleirscher.

His German team-mate Julia Taubitz also made a very good start to the new season with two victories and a second place and is leading the overall ranking so far ahead of long-term rival Madeleine Egle (AUT) and the US American Ashley Farquharson. In the women's doubles, Egle/Kipp have moved to the top of the rankings after two victories in Lake Placid, closely followed by the newly formed German women's doubles team of Eitberger/Schirmer and the world champions Degenhardt/Rosenthal.

National champions in the World Cup

Between Christmas and New Year's Eve, the national teams from Germany, Latvia and Italy held their national championships. At the German Championship on December 29, 2023, national coach Norbert Loch's team took the opportunity for a dress rehearsal on the World Championship track in Altenberg. Felix Loch was crowned German champion in the men's event. This was the fifteenth German Championship gold for the 34-year-old in his career. He won ahead of Max Langenhan and Timon Grancagnolo, who also secured the fourth starting place in the World Cup. In the women's singles, Anna Berreiter defended her national title ahead of youngsters Melina Fischer and Alina Bräutigam. In the men's doubles, Hannes Orlamünder/Paul Gubitz surprisingly won their first German Championship title ahead of Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt and Moritz Jäger/Valentin Steudte. Jessica Degenhardt/Cheyenne Rosenthal won the women's doubles ahead of the young duo Elisa-Marie Storch/Pauline Patz and Dajana Eitberger/Saskia Schirmer.

The Latvian Luge Cup also took place in Sigulda on December 29, 2023. Kristers Aparjods won the men's competition with best times in both runs. Junior Kaspars Rinks came second ahead of Gint Berziņs. In the women's singles race, Kendija Aparjode won the Latvian Cup 2023 ahead of Elina Ieva Vitola and Sigita Berzina. Martins Bots/Roberts Plume won the men's doubles ahead of Eduard Sevics-Mikeļsevics/Lukas Krasta and the junior team of Raimonds Baltgalvis/Vitalijs Jegorovs. A new team won the women's doubles with Anda Upite/Zane Kaluma. Viktorija Ziediņa/Selina Elizabete Zvilna came second and Marta Robezniece/Kitija Bogdanova third.

At the Italian Championships on December 30, Verena Hofer won the women's race in Oberhof ahead of Nina Zöggeler and Annalena Huber. Leon Felderer won the men's title ahead of Alex Gufler and Lukas Peccei. Overall World Cup winner Dominik Fischnaller could not compete due to illness. Andrea Vötter-Marion Oberhofer finished fourth in the doubles and were the fastest women's doubles team. Simon Kainzwalder/Emanuel Rieder won the Italian men's doubles title ahead of Nagler/Mailleier and Rieder/Gufler.

Quotes:

America-Pacific-Championships, Whistler 2023

Robert Fegg, Head Coach Team Canada: „We won't compete in the team relay in Winterberg, but will be back in Innsbruck and at the World Championships in Altenberg. Embyr-Lee Susko will be racing in the singles and doubles with Beattie Podulsky. It's important for us to have consistent runs in Winterberg, as we haven't been there for a few years. That's why it will be a challenge for us, because we only have a few training runs and then straight away the race. We hope that the track will be good. Afterwards, we're looking forward to Innsbruck and the World Championships in Altenberg, but no matter where, consistency is the most important thing for us and that will show us where we stand.“

Christian Eigentler, Head Coach Team Austria: „I wish everyone a happy new year. We recovered well over the holidays back home in Innsbruck. Training was on the agenda once a day and we did a few equipment tests in preparation for the World Cup in Winterberg and the European Championships at our home track in Innsbruck. Everything went well, everyone is fit and recovered and we are looking forward to the upcoming tasks in the new year.“

Kurt Brugger, Head Coach Team Italy: „We spent three days in Oberhof and held our Italian Championships on a fairly private scale on December 30th. Unfortunately, we were struggling with flu and injuries. Dominik Fischnaller was not in Oberhof due to a high fever, and Emmanuel Rieder was also ill over the holidays. Nadja Falkensteiner is still not back after her serious crash during the season preparation in Sigulda and her foot operation. It even looks as if she won't be able to luge for the whole season. We have high hopes for Winterberg that the weather will be good and that everyone will be fit and healthy again.“

Lubomir Mick, Head Coach Team USA: „We got through the holidays well and, to be honest, we needed it. The season opener in Lake Placid with medal wins was great, though more could have been possible. For Winterberg, we're not only hoping for podium finishes in the relay, but also in the men's and women's races. Our women's doubles are also very strong and can compete among the best. The upper part in Winterberg is quite slow, which is why minor mistakes cost a lot of time there. The lower part is much faster, especially in turns 11, 12 and 13, and a mistake there costs a lot of time in turn 14. The biggest challenge for us in Winterberg is always the weather. There is either rain, snow or too much frost, which is not exactly what we like. But the whole team is working really hard and things are going in the right direction.“