Preview 9th EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup in Altenberg (GER):

World Cup Finals in Altenberg's Kohlgrund / Felix Loch on track for eighth overall World Cup victory

Altenberg (FIL/03 Mar 2026) For the grand finale of the 49th FIL EBERSPAECHER World Cup season, athletes will be competing for the final World Cup points this weekend, March 6-8, 2026, on the SachsenEnergie ice track in Altenberg. In addition to the races in the EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup, the sixth and final team relay of the EBERSPÄCHER Team Relay World Cup presented by BMW is on the program on Sunday.

It will be a special final weekend, as there are still some decisions to be made in the respective discipline World Cups. Twenty-one women, 27 men, nine women's doubles, 15 men's doubles, and eight relays from 15 nations have registered for the World Cup finals.

With the Luge World Cup, Jens Morgenstern, OC President and Managing Director of the track operator Wintersport Altenberg GmbH (WiA), his dedicated team, and the FIL officials are entering the home stretch of the current competition season. A total of nine EBERSPÄCHER World Cups were on the FIL calendar, as well as the XXV Olympic Winter Games Milan Cortina 2026.

As in previous years, further investments were made in the modernization of the SachsenEnergie ice channel on the final World Cup track in the Eastern Ore Mountains. Various construction measures were on the agenda, which were financed by the Free State of Saxony, partly by the federal government, and by the district of Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains. In addition, WiA contributed around €100,000 of its own funds. Work on the new start and function building in curve 8 – the start height for junior lugers – was completed on December 12. The new building was used for the first time at the FIL Junior World Championships at the end of January. It has two floors. The upper floor houses an analysis room for the coaches, a changing room for the athletes with toilet facilities, and a technical room in the basement. Another new feature is the weather-protected storage area for sports equipment between the track and the building. The new building has created optimal training and competition conditions.

In addition, extensive work on modernizing the refrigeration technology has continued, and internal funds have been used to continue energy optimization (e.g., LED technology), renew the electrical infrastructure (e.g., switch boxes), and build new changing rooms for young lugers.

Exciting World Cup overall title race right up to the finish

In addition to the crystal globes for victory in the EBERSPÄCHER overall World Cup in the individual disciplines, the FIL will also be awarding JOSKA trophies for the EBERSPÄCHER Team Relay World Cup presented by BMW this weekend. After eight of nine World Cup races, Julia Taubitz, Felix Loch, Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt (all GER) and the women's doubles team Selina Egle/Lara Kipp (AUT) lead the overall World Cup standings in their respective disciplines. While Egle/Kipp and Wendl/Arlt have already successfully defended their titles from last year before the final race of the season, Julia Taubitz and Felix Loch face direct competition from Merle Fräbel and Max Langenhan from their own team.

Double Olympic champion Julia Taubitz (GER) is on the verge of defending her title from last year and securing the overall World Cup for the fifth time in a row. The 30-year-old from Saxony now has 549 points and, with her victory in St. Moritz, has built up a small lead over the previous leader, Lisa Schulte (AUT, 498 points). However, her teammate Merle Fräbel (530 points) is only 19 points behind her and still has every chance of winning her first overall World Cup title.

In the men's competition, Felix Loch (GER, 701 points) further extended his lead with second place in St. Moritz. As Austria's Jonas Müller (685 points) will not be competing in the season finale in Altenberg, and double Olympic champion Max Langenhan (GER, 605 points) could only defend his title if Loch fails to finish, the 36-year-old is on course for his eighth overall World Cup victory. Loch has already racked up four wins and three second places this season and has a total of 56 World Cup victories (excluding mixed events) to his name. With another victory in Altenberg, he could draw level with Armin Zöggeler in the all-time World Cup rankings. Italy's current sports director has won 57 World Cup victories in his successful career and also leads this ranking with 10 overall World Cup victories.

In the women's doubles, Selina Egle and Lara Kipp can celebrate defending their title early. Although their impressive run of 15 consecutive World Cup podium finishes came to an end with fifth place in St. Moritz, they are now uncatchable at the top of the standings with 695 points, ahead of Olympic silver medalists Dajana Eitberger/Magdalena Matschina (GER, 568 points) and their teammates Jessica Degenhardt/Cheyenne Rosenthal (524 points). The Austrians are now on a par with Olympic champions Andrea Vötter/Marion Oberhofer (ITA), who also won the overall World Cup twice.

The decision for the crystal globe has also already been made in the men's doubles: Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt (GER) secured the overall World Cup title ahead of schedule with their third place in St. Moritz. They lead with 636 points ahead of the Austrians Juri Gatt/Riccardo Schöpf (514 points) and Thomas Steu/Wolfgang Kindl (505 points) and can look forward to winning the big crystal globe for the seventh time. With a total of 60 World Cup victories, they lead the all-time list of winners and, with seven overall World Cup victories, have now overtaken Toni Eggert/Sascha Benecken and Patric Leitner/Alexander Resch in the rankings. Only the Italians Hansjörg Raffl/Norbert Huber are ahead of the two Bavarians with eight overall World Cup victories.

With a total of 53 relay victories, Team Germany leads the all-time statistics by a wide margin. This season, the team led by national coach Patric Leitner has won three of the five team relays so far, but missed out on the podium in Park City (USA) and Sigulda (LAT) and is therefore with 355 points behind Austria (440 points) and ahead of Latvia (340 points) in the overall ranking of the EBERSPÄCHER Team Relay World Cup presented by BMW.

An overview of the overall World Cup standings and the individual disciplines can be found here: fil-luge.org/en/overall-scores?event_season_id=33

9th EBERSPÄCHER Rodel-Weltcup-Finale, Altenberg (GER)
Local start time (=CET)

Saturday, 7 March 2026

08:50 Men’s Doubles, 1st run
10:00 Men’s Doubles, 2nd run
11:15 Men’s Singles, 1st run
12:40 Women’s Singles, 1st run

14:10 Women’s Doubles, 1st run
15:05 Women’s Doubles, 2nd run

Sunday, 8 March 2026

10:35 Men’s Singles, 2nd ru
11:40 Women’s Singles, 2nd run

13:20 Team Relay

All times are subject to change!