On the "Gafair"-track in Laas (ITA) the FIL Luge World Cup on natural track turns into the home straight. The fifth World Cup race will take place on Tuesday, February 9th, followed by the World Cup final on Wednesday, February 10th.

Last season, Laas came back to the World Cup calendar after a five-year break - as a replacement for Zelezniki (SLO). The 859 meter long “Gafair”-track offered one of the most exciting races of last winter: The third-placed after the first run, Michael Scheikl (AUT), celebrated his second win of the season, ahead of Patrick Pigneter (ITA) and Thomas Kammerlander (AUT) ex aequo on second place. World Champion Alex Gruber (ITA), who was second after the first run, finished fourth. After four races, Michael Scheikl is leading the World Cup standing with 355 points, followed by Patrick Pigneter (310) and Alex Gruber (260).

In the women's single Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) won last year by over a second over Tina Unterberger (AUT). Greta Pinggera (ITA) finished third on her home track. Lanthaler leads the overall standings with 400 points, ahead of her teammates Greta Pinggera (340) and Daniela Mittermair (260).

In the doubles the Russians offered a very strong performance on their "home track" (Laas is the winter base of the team from Russia). The victory went to Pavel Porshnev/Ivan Lazarev, their teammates Stanislav Kovshik/Ilia Tarasov and Aleksandr Egorov/Petr Popov lined up in fourth and fifth position. The Italians Patrick Pigneter/Florian Clara took second place, Patrick Lambacher/Matthias Lambacher (ITA) came third. In the overall standing Pigneter/Clara are in the lead with 385 points, ahead of Lambacher/Lambacher (300) and Fabian Achenrainer/Simon Achenrainer (AUT / 280).

The showdown for the big crystal ball for the overall World Cup victory is also the dress rehearsal for the 23rd FIL Luge World Championships on Natural Track from February 12th-14th in Umhausen (AUT).

The program in Laas (ITA)
Tuesday, February 9th, 2021 (5th World Cup)
10 a.m .:Final run men’s single, followed by flower ceremony
11.30 a.m .: Final run women’s single, followed by flower ceremony
12.30 p.m .: Final run doubles, followed by flower ceremony

Wednesday, February 10th, 2021 (World Cup finals)
9 am: 1st run men’s single
10 a.m .: 1st run women’s single
10.45 a.m .: Final run men’s single, followed by flower ceremony
11.30 a.m .: Final run women’s single, followed by flower ceremony
12.30 p.m .: 1st run doubles
1.30 p.m .: Final run doubles, followed by flower ceremony