Wendl/Arlt secure overall World Cup / Egle/Kipp win World Cup finals
Winterberg (FIL/25.02.2023) In winter conditions, first the men's and women's doubles started into the season finale of the 45th FIL EBERSPÄCHER World Cup in the VELTINS EisArena Winterberg this morning. Vice World Champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt were not to be beaten today and celebrated the fourth World Cup victory in Winterberg in a row. In women's doubles Selina Egle and Lara Kipp ended the season the way they started it - with a victory. The big crystal globe in the overall World Cup goes to Italy's Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer and Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt from Germany.
Wendl/Arlt win World Cup race and secure overall World Cup victory
After the first run it looked like Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken would succeed in breaking the winning streak of their teammates Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt. However, with the fastest time in the second run the Bavarians once again succeeded and celebrated their third victory in this year's EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup in a row and their fourth overall here in Winterberg. In an overall time of 1:26,690 they won ahead of their teammates Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken (+0,057 sec.) and Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schöpf (AUT, +0,132sec.). Italians Emanuel Rieder and Simon Kainzwalder finished fourth, 0.172sec behind, closely followed by Austrians Yannick Müller and Armin Frauscher (AUT, +0.177sec) and Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller (+0.226sec).
After their victory in the Sprint Overall World Cup, Wendl/Arlt thus also secured victory in the EBERSPÄCHER World Cup as well as the big crystal globe in the Overall World Cup. In the discipline World Cup they triumphed with 780 points ahead of Eggert/Benecken (730 p.) and the Latvians Bots/Plume (587 p.) In the overall World Cup they put 59 points between themselves and last year's winners Eggert/Benecken (955 p.) with 1014 points. Bot/Plume finished in third place with 757 points.
Egle/Kipp win World Cup final in Winterberg
Selina Egle and Lara Kipp end this year's World Cup season the way they started it - with a victory. The Austrians won the 9th EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup in a total time of 1:28,169 clearly ahead of the World Champions Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal (+0,339 sec.) and the Italians Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer (+0,385 sec.). Latvians Anda Upite and Sanija Ozolina finished fourth, 0.427 sec. behind, followed by Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby (USA, +0.571 sec.) and Nadia Falkensteiner and Annalena Huber (ITA, +0.693 sec.).
For the Vice World Champions Egle/Kipp it is the fourth World Cup victory in total this season. With their victory they also secured the second place in the overall World Cup, after they had won the Sprint overall World Cup before, equal in points with Vötter/Oberhofer. The women's doubles had competed for the first time in the EBERSPÄCHER luge World Cup on their way to the Olympic premiere in Milan-Cortina 2026. From the very beginning, these three doubles delivered exciting races, sharing the podium six times in total.
The decision for the big crystal globe had already been made earlier after St. Moritz, at least as far as the victory was concerned. After their shared title in the Sprint World Cup, the Italians Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer secured the victory in the overall World Cup with 1010 points ahead of Selina Egle and Lara Kipp (AUT, 915 p.) and Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal (GER, 898 p.). Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer also won the discipline World Cup with 755 points ahead of Degenhardt/Rosenthal (750 p.) and Egle/Kipp (660 p.) and thus brought all three crystal globes to South Tyrol in their first season as doubles racers.
Quotes:
Andrea Vötter (ITA): "It was only five points in the discipline World Cup in the end. I think it's great that it was so exciting until the end. It was again a nice competition and for us it was of course reassuring that we could secure the overall World Cup already in St. Moritz. Otherwise we would have been more nervous today. We can't stop beaming."
Selina Egle (AUT): "It was a crazy day today. I wouldn't have thought so. We were so slow at the start in training, and I don't know where we got those few hundredths out today. I have no idea what Lara had for breakfast today. Sensational!"
Lara Kipp (AUT): "It ended for us the way we started. It was a hell of a season. When the sun came out in the second run, I knew I just wanted to enjoy the last run of this season."
Jessica Degenhardt (GER): "It was difficult today with the conditions, it wasn't easy for everyone. We finished second today and are really happy with that. We still worked a lot on ourselves and the sled over the winter. It should have come earlier, but we know now what we have to do over the summer to be in an even better position for next winter."
Tobias Wendl (GER): "One could see it: When we went through the light barrier and saw the number one, so much pressure dropped off us. It's a great feeling. The last time we were overall World Cup winners was in 2015/16. To race so consistently again over the whole season after such a long time is great. We can be proud of ourselves. I just say: old, but gold!"
Tobias Arlt (GER): "It was an unbelievable season and it was a lot of fun to race with and against Toni and Sascha. You can see that we get along well, that we do a lot together, and that also makes us stronger as a team. In Innsbruck we still had little difficulties but then improved from race to race."
Sascha Benecken (GER): "We had a very good race today, delivered a very good performance and presented ourselves really well especially at the start. We raced two good runs but lost it in the track. It was snowing and the ice is certainly not as smooth as we would have liked. In these conditions we are outclassed by Wendl/Arlt at the moment."
Toni Eggert (GER): "After becoming World Champions three times, winning four World Cups and being second in the overall World Cup, one can be satisfied with that. Of course I would have liked to win the last race of the season today, but we have to analyze for the coming season how we can manage a better set up in such weather conditions."
Roberts Plume (LAT): "In the end it was a great season for us. We secured 3rd place in the overall World Cup. That's all that was possible for us at the moment. But we will train hard and are highly motivated. The goal for the upcoming season is very clear: we want to be able to beat the German doubles on their home tracks as well."
The results of the 9th EBERSPÄCHER World Cup of the 2022/23 season are available at the following link: https://www.fil-luge.org/de/ergebnisse/eberspaecher-weltcup-18
The final results in the EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup as well as in the overall ranking can be found here: https://www.fil-luge.org/de/gesamtstaende?event_season_id=30
