Victories repeated: Taubitz, Loch and Steu/Koller win BMW Sprints

Innsbruck (FIL): There were no big surprises at the BMW Sprint World Cup in Innsbruck-Igls. As in the EBERSPÄCHER World Cup, the winner of the women's race was Julia Taubitz (GER). Felix Loch (GER) was the fastest man. And also the pair of Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller (AUT) left the entire competition behind them the day before.

Behind Julia Taubitz in the BMW Sprint World Cup were the two returnees Natalie Geisenberger and Dajana Eitberger (both Germany). Behind the Latvian Eliza Tiruma, Hannah Prock (Austria), daughter of the overall World Cup record winner Markus Prock, came in fifth place.
 
"That was a perfect weekend, we can continue like this", Loch concluded. The six-time overall World Cup winner from Germany was 0.088 seconds faster than Olympic champion David Gleirscher and his Austrian team mate Jonas Müller (0.091 seconds back). Behind them followed the Italians Dominik (0.127) and Kevin Fischnaller.

Their home advantage as well as their good form was again demonstrated by the double Steu/Koller. With a lead of 0.091 seconds they relegated the Latvians Andris and Juris Sics to second place. Third place went to Ludwig Rieder and Patrick Rastner ahead of their Italian team mates Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwaldner. Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken had to cope with a moment of shock. After a mistake in the labyrinth, the World champions crashed and slipped off the finish line on their side.

In front of the light barrier they made it back onto the sled. "We didn't fall hard, we just tipped over, so nothing else happened to our neck", said the battered Benecken, "much more painful is that we lost a lot of points in the overall classification". The conclusion of the German head coach Norbert Loch was likewise praise for the Austrian team: "In the doubles we were not able to compete for the victory.

Please find the results here: https://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/bmw-sprint-world-cup-16