World Champions Eggert/Benecken remain the pair to beat

Innsbruck-Igls (RWH) Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken of Germany remain the pair to beat in the doubles event. The current World Champions and overall winners of the last Viessmann World Cup have now won the opening race of the season on the Olympic ice track in Innsbruck-Igls. The pair, from Oberhof in Germany, secured their 26th race win in the Viessmann World Cup, pushing the Italian pairing of Ludwig Rieder/Patrick Rastner into second. This marked the South Tirolean duo’s best result to date following two third-place finishes, one in Winterberg (GER / 13-14 season) and one in Sigulda (LAT / 16-17 season). Third place in the race went to Olympic Champions Tobias Wendl/Tobias Arlt of Germany. 

Quotes

Sascha Benecken (GER / 2017 World Champion, overall winner of the Viessmann World Cup in 2015 and 2017):

“Of course, everyone hopes to start the season with a win. After all, we have been always been really successful here in the past. People have said this track is like our own living room. Now it’s winter, the sun is shining, there’s snow on the ground and we’ve won. I think that’s great.”

Patrick Rastner (ITA / seventh place in the Olympics and fifth place in the World Championships):

“We were always really fast in our preparations for this season. We’ve managed to improve, particularly in terms of our attitude. And then you also grow in experience over time. When you add all these factors together, then you ultimately get a result like this.”

Tobias Arlt (GER / Olympic Champion and three-time World Champion):

“In the past, the starting curve in Innsbruck-Igls always made things difficult for us. This year, it went well there, but we still made a couple of mistakes on the second run.”