Königssee (RWH) The Viessmann World Cup is starting the new year with the classic Königssee race, a race which is being held for the 35th time, and which this time round can also be seen as the dress rehearsal for the 2016 Luge World Championships. Although the weekend 3 - 4 January 2015 is only the fourth in the post-Olympic winter, it will be showcasing the sixth of the twelve World Cup races being run this season. Shortly before “half time”, defending titleholder Natalie Geisenberger of Germany heads the women’s overall rankings. Germany’s Felix Loch, who was flagging slightly before Christmas, is in the lead in the men’s singles, and Toni Eggert−Sascha Benecken, also of Germany, head the doubles. The Königssee weekend will close with the second race in the Viessmann Team Relay World Cup presented by BMW. At 470 points, Olympic Champion Natalie Geisenberger has a clear lead on the competition: Olympic silver medallist Tatjana Hüfner of Germany is second with 335 points and Olympic Bronze medallist Erin Hamlin of the USA is third with 313 points. But Geisenberger suffered two defeats recently, when Alex Gough won the FIL Sprint World Cup in Calgary and four-times World Champion Hüfner took gold in the German Championships in Oberhof. The picture is somewhat different in the men’s singles, where Olympic Champion Loch (363 points), is only slightly ahead of Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller (336). “Going through a bit of a low”, was the verdict of Germany’s head coach Norbert Loch when his son was placed down at fourth in the national championships. The title went to Andi Langenhan, who came fourth in the Olympics. In the doubles, Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken continue to forge ahead alone. Only in the FIL Sprint World Cup in Calgary have they been beaten this season, coming second behind Olympic Champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt. But Wendl-Arlt are considered a force to be reckoned with in Königssee: the 2013 World Champions have won every race at the foot of the Watzmann since the 2009/2010 season.