Preview 3rd EBERSPÄCHER World Cup in Oberhof: Favorites from five nations and track modernization

Oberhof (FIL): At the 2nd EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup in Altenberg last weekend, the four Olympic disciplines were won by athletes from four different nations. Italy won the Team Relay presented by BMW. The men's race was won by Felix Loch, the three-time Olympic champion from Germany, who thus set himself apart from the competition at the top of the overall World Cup standings with the maximum number of 300 World Cup points. The Austrian duo Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller also took their third victory in the third race, thereby leading the World Cup rankings for doubles with 300 points. In the women's race, Tatyana Ivanova of Russia secured her 15th World Cup victory. Here, the second and fifth place finishers of the Altenberg World Cup Natalie Geisenberger and Julia Taubitz (both Germany) with 255 World Cup points each jointly took the lead in the overall rankings to the big crystal ball of the EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup 2020/21.

115 athletes from 18 nations have registered for the World Cup in Oberhof. All athletes, coaches and officials who arrived on Monday - a total of about 300 people – came back with a negative Covid-19 test result. FIL Hygiene Representative Christoph Schweiger was visibly relieved: "We are all making great efforts to fully comply with the FIL protection and hygiene concept and to protect each other. I am very glad that our measures have been so successful so far. Let's hope that the season continues so well and that everyone stays healthy".

It will be exciting to determine the sporting aspects of the 3rd EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup next week in Oberhof, Thuringia. Over the summer, the luge run was subjected to a concrete renovation with partial curve shortening and steeper sections. Since the facility in Oberhof is still a construction site, the extensive reconstruction measures will continue in the summer of 2021, and none of the World Cup athletes have yet ridden on the modified track. Only the test runs of the German B-team and juniors were successful under the supervision of the FIL track construction commission. Starting Wednesday, December 9th 2020, the official training runs for the World Cup races on the weekend will start.

Schedule 3rd EBERSPÄCHER World Cup 2020/21 in Oberhof:

Friday / Friday, December 11, 2020
09:00 Nations Cup / Nations Cup
following award ceremony / Award Ceremony
14:30 Training setter group / Training seeding-group

Saturday / Saturday, 12.12.2020
09:00 1st race double / 1st run doubles
10:20 2nd run double / 2nd run doubles

11:50 1st run men's race / 1st run men's singles
13:25 2nd run men's race / 2nd run men's singles

Sunday / Sunday, 13.12.2020
09:05 1st run women's race / 1st run women's singles
10:40 2nd run women's race / 2nd run women's singles

12:50 Team Relay / Team relay

Subject to change / Subject to change

Quotes before the 3rd EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup in Oberhof:

Kristaps Mauriņš, Team Manager and coach Latvia: “After track walk and newcomers training session we conclude that rebuilt curves in Oberhof are easier to single sleds. We are looking forward to see how doubles will handle with track’s new sections. Nevertheless our aim stays the same - fight for medals in each discipline, and we proved it last weekend that we are able to do that. Oberhof is similar to Sigulda, a hard work track, so it is very handy for us. Last two seasons we got very good results in Oberhof. With clean runs and whithout unnecessary mistakes in track, we can replicate and improve on what has been achieved in last two seasons here in Oberhof”.

Kristers Aparjods (LAT): World Cup third in Altenberg: "I like Oberhof very much and hope that I can give two stable runs in the competition".

Altenberg winner Tatyana Ivanova (RUS): "Last weekend I could bounce back my 20th place from Igls with a victory in Altenberg. I hope it continues like this now. I would still like to try to ride for the overall World Cup".

World Cup leader Thomas Steu (AUT): "Everything feels great right now! The races have not been perfect so far, we have made many small mistakes. We are looking forward to the upcoming tasks."

World Champion Toni Eggert (GER): "The track in Oberhof has been homologated again, we were in Altenberg all week long and none of us were on it. Accordingly, we have no home advantage".   
Olympic champion Tobias Wendl (GER): "We are slowly improving: In Innsbruck fourth, in Altenberg third. The trend is right, the sled has a good speed. In Oberhof it is always very tight, we know that from the last years. But we are in a very positive mood. After all, we've already been able to win some races in Oberhof".

World Cup leader Felix Loch (GER): "The track in Oberhof is certainly not that new. In the past years it was difficult from the men's start from curve nine to curve ten. This passage has been eased. That should definitely work better for us. That's why I'm going to tackle the week like any other: working out the track. We will have one or the other coach position there, who will then tell us how to do it".
Olympic bronze medallist Johannes Ludwig (GER): "We have received very different feedback on the rebuilt track in Oberhof. At the beginning it sounded a bit adventurous, but that's always the case when there are new things. But at the end, from the men's start, we heard that it went quite well. I'm not really worried about that. Of course it's exciting, but you have to take it more carefully. I'll take a closer look at the track beforehand, as I usually do. Then I'll think through it and attack.

Max Langenhan (GER) World Cup third in Altenberg: "Concerning the track in Oberhof I talked a lot with our juniors. A lot has changed, curve eight - nine, the crucial point, is completely new. I am curious how it will go. We have good camera runs where you can see how it goes. With only five training runs it will be interesting to see what happens".

Overall World Cup winner 2020 Julia Taubitz (GER): “I am very excited about the track in Oberhof. Visually it looks really cool. The first voices we have heard say that it is going pretty well. It will be very bumpy, because the track workers did not have much time to improve anything. But I'm looking forward to it. I hope that I will be able to get along a little better than usual, because I don't really like Oberhof that much. Let's see, I am looking forward to the week."

Olympic champion Natalie Geisenberger (GER): "I can be very satisfied with my three second places so far. I have one laughing and one crying eye. I am further than many thought. It was clear that it is not easy to come back and be in the lead. We still have a few races to go. The 50th World Cup win would be nice, but it wouldn't be the end of the world either if it didn't work out".

Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, no spectators are allowed at the luge track in Oberhof and at all EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cups 2020/21. The training runs on Wednesday and Thursday will be broadcasted by the German federation via BSD-TV in the livestream under:
https://www.bsd-tv.de/ or https://www.bsd-tv.de/#/livestream/oberhof  

All World Cup races can be followed in the FIL livestream (in Germany, Latvia and the USA partially geo-blocked) at: https://video.fil-luge.org/index.html

TV times for the EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup in Oberhof, training results and further information can be found under the following link:
https://www.fil-luge.org/de/ergebnisse/eberspaecher-weltcup-2