Overall World Cup victory within reach for European Champion Semen Pavlichenko

Sochi (RWH) Russia’s Semen Pavlichenko has overall victory in the Viessmann World Cup within his sights. Thanks to his third win of the season, the 2015 World Champion and four-time European Champion has climbed to the top of the overall standings in the men’s event ahead of the final race in the BMW Sprint World Cup. Following the eleventh of twelve events in the 2018/2019 Viessmann World Cup, Pavlichenko leads the rankings with 688 points.

He is followed in second place by Roman Repilov (633), who finished second in Sochi, and currently trails Pavlichenko by 55 points. Third place in the standings is currently held by previous leader Johannes Ludwig (GER), who finished twelfth in Sochi and now has 630 points.

In the race, Pavlichenko and Repilov were followed by Dominik Fischnaller of Italy in third place, who stopped it from being an all-Russian top five as Maksim Aravin and Aleksandr Stepichev finished in fourth and fifth.

Not one but three potential title-holders lost all chances of a win after the first heat. The two-time Olympic Champion and current World Champion Felix Loch of Germany suffered a bout of dizziness during the first run. His father and head coach Norbert Loch explained that he suffered a sudden loss of vision. After speaking to the German team doctor, Christopher Szopko, the six-time overall winner managed to return for the second heat and eventually finished in eighth.

The Olympic Champion from PyeongChang, David Gleirscher of Austria, crashed and failed to reach the finish line, meaning he did not rank. His team mate Reinhard Egger ended the first heat in last place.

Quotes

Semen Pavlichenko (RUS / 2015 World Champion, four-time European Champion)

“I’m not thinking about the overall World Cup at the moment. I’m concentrating exclusively on myself, the track and the sled.”

Roman Repilov (RUS / overall World Cup winner in 2017/2018, silver medallist in the 2017 World Championships)

“I’m not happy. The first run wasn’t very good. I would like to make a few changes ahead of next year. We need to change the structure of my sled in time for next season.”

Dominik Fischnaller (ITA / bronze medallist in the 2017 World Championships)

“This is a good ending to an average season. I finished on the podium three times, but the rest of my performances were weak. I could have finished in second, but I got a bit lucky, too. Because lots of my competitors dropped points, I can still make up some ground in the World Cup.”