Thomas Kammerlander (AUT) is "Mister Winterleiten": On the second stage of the Luge World Cup on Natural Track in Obdach-Winterleiten in Styria the Austrian showed an outstandig performance.


At the FIL European Championships in 2018, Thomas Kammerlander won  the gold medal on the 1,033-meter track in Winterleiten. On Saturday, at the second stage of the Luge World Cup on Natural Track, Kammerlander dominated right from the start: He was the fastest in both practice runs on Friday, and in the race on Saturday the 28-year-old luger set a new track record in 1:10.99 minutes. At the European Championships 2018 Kammerlander set the old track record in 1:12,00 minutes. In the second run Kammerlander confirmed his outstanding performance and celebrated his first victory of the season. Alex Gruber (ITA), who won the first stage in Kühtai, finished second. A strong second run brought the World Champion from fourth position after first run on the podium. Third place and first podium of the season for  local hero Michael Scheikl.  Patrick Pigneter (ITA) was second after the first run, but a few mistakes in the final run put him back on fourth place.
"In the past I did not like the track in Winterleiten at all, but it seems a late love will develop," said Kammerlander after his "Grand Slam" (best time in both trainings, best time in both runs) in Winterleiten.
In the World Cup standing after two stages Kammerlander and Gruber are tied in first place with 185 points each, followed by the two Austrians Michael Scheikl and Florian Glatzl with 125 points each in third place.

Podium Herren Winterleiten 2ß19


Evelin Lanthaler wins in Winterleiten
Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) keeps her white vest after the second stage of Luge World Cup on Natural Track 2019, but the winner of the season-take-off in Kühtai this time had to fight very hard for the victory. After the first run Lanthaler was surprisingly second behind her team-mate Greta Pinggera (ITA). In the second run the 27-year-old took the lead after a flawless performance setting the track record to 1:12.14 minutes, improving the record of Pinggera from the first run by 0.86 seconds. "I did not really do well in the first run," Lanthaler said. "In the second run I had to go all-in. It was a good battle with Greta (Greta Pinggera) today". After finishing second Greta Pinggera looked slightly disappointed, but she showed what sport is all about:  "Actually, my second run was good, but Evelin (Evelin Lanthaler) was definately stronger today." Third position for Tina Unterberger (AUT), the stage in Winterleiten provided the same podium as Kühtai in December.
In the World Cup standing Lanthaler is in the lead with 200 points, followed by Greta Pinggera (170) and Tina Unterberger (140).


In the team competition Austria (Tina Unterberger, Michael Schickl, Thomas Kammerlander) celebrated a home victory, with Italy (Evelin Lanthaler, Patrick Pigneter, Alex Gruber) second and Russia (Ekaterina Lavrentevea, Aleksandr Egorov, Iurii Talykh) third. Italy won the first team competition in Kühtai, followed by Austria and Russia.


The next stop in the FIL Luge World Cup on Natural Track is the Russian capital Moscow the upcoming weekend.