Premiere for Nico Gleirscher: First Time Overall World Cup lead defended

Sigulda (FIL/05 Jan 2025) Nico Gleirscher clenched his fist at the finish and then shouted out his joy. With his victory at the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup in Sigulda, the 27-year-old Austrian has defended his lead in the overall standings. For the first time in his career. “And this happend in Sigulda,” he said, beaming with joy. But then he confessed: "I was incredibly nervous before the second run, I held my breath before curve 15." But with the best time in both runs, his second sovereign victory this season was never in danger. 1:35.199 minutes was his winning time.

Kristers Aparjode also had high hopes on his home track. But in the end, the Latvian missed out by 0.184 seconds. “Of course I really wanted to win, like last season,” he said, “but it wasn't enough for Nico, he was just better.” A small consolation: “At least I made it onto the podium for the first time this season.” Max Langenhan was standing next to him there.

The German was a little surprised about that. His curious analysis: “In the first race, I rode really well, but I was too slow. In the second race, it was the other way around: I rode badly and was too fast for that. I just made too many mistakes.” Langenhan was 0.281 seconds behind Gleirscher, whom he didn't think was beatable in this race. The world champion is encouraged by his start times, which are slowly improving.

Dominik Fischnaller put in a furious chase. After the first run he was still in seventh place, but he improved in the second run, finished fourth with the third-best time, 0.356 seconds behind, ahead of Felix Loch (Germany/0.414 seconds back) and Latvia's Gints Berzins (0.550).

The tragic figure of the race was Jonas Müller. After the first run, the 27-year-old Austrian seemed to have made his peace with the track in Sigulda. Two years ago, he had a bad crash and last year's eighth place was his best result. He entered the ice track in third place, but after a driving mistake in turn 14, he lost momentum. With the 17th best time, he only managed twelfth place (0.846).