Umhausen (ck/es) - Patrick Pigneter (ITA) had already won the Overall World Cup before today’s competition. But with today’s victory in the sixth and last race of the season Pigneter won – for the first time in his career and as first male athlete actually – all World Cup races within one season. According to this his résumé was great. “I actually don’t know what to say. My season was perfect”, Pigneter said happily. Pigneter, who crowned himself also European Champion in Russia, was only third after the first run. “In the first run I was probably too cautious and that is often too slow. But in the second run everything was alright again.” Second finished - just like in the last four competitions - Hannes Clara (ITA), who had been in the lead after the first run. Clara did not score any points in the first World Cup race because he missed the world cup qualification. With rank two today he secured his second place in the Overall World Cup behind Pigneter. “I am surprised about my second place today. I don’t like soft and wet tracks, but the first run was extremely good. Therefore I am very happy with the second place. And winning the Overall World Cup was impossible anyway”, Clara analyzed. Alex Gruber, also Italian, became third and also fetched the third place in the Overall World Cup – right before Michael Scheikl (AUT) who finished ninth today. After his gold medal at the Junior World Championships he sees this as an important step in his career. “I am very satisfied with today’s third place and rank three in Overall World Cup is together with winning the Junior World Championships my absolute highlight”, Gruber was cheering. Ekatharina Lavrentjeva remains undefeatable Ekatharina Lavrentjeva (RUS) not only defended her overall world cup title, she has not been defeated once throughout the whole season. Also in the sixth and last world cup race of the season she claimed the top spot and celebrated her 40th career world cup win, ahead of Melanie Batkowski (AUT) and Renate Gietl (ITA). "For me it was a perfect season, I really cannot add anything to that", said theRussian. The serial winner who already managed to win all season races in the winter of 2005/06, already thinks about the future: "I like the track in Deutschnofen and I am looking forward to the World Championships there." Melanie Batkowski, once again runner up, was happy about her successful ending of the season: "I am very glad about this second place today. The conditions were challenging, but my second run was close to perfect." Looking back at the season she says: "Unfortunately I missed the first two races because I was sick. So I am even happier that I started well in Slovenia, when I came back to the world cup circuit. The silver medal in the European Championships was of course fantastic." World Champion Renate Gietl (ITA) who was ranked second after the first run and eventually finished third, was not satisfied: "I hoped for a little bit more here in Umhausen, where I have become World Champion last year. I clearly missed my goal to win the overall world cup, but Kathi was simply better. So my congratulations for her!" The German team ended the season with a great success: with Veronika Nachmann ranked fifth and Michaela Maurer ranked seventh, for the first time ever two Germans finished among the top seven. Florian Batkowski is the winner of the Nation’s Cup The Tyrolean Florian Batkowski celebrates his victory in the Nation’s Cup – ahead of Thomas Schopf (AUT) and Anton Blasbichler (ITA). For Batkowski, the victory is a “conciliatory end of the season. Of course it would have been better to compete in the World Cup. But defeating a World Champion (note: Anton Blasbichler) is always a good feeling”, Batkowski was joking right after the race. For Thomas Schopf the season wasn’t perfect at all but he is not totally unsatisfied. “Of course I am happy with the silver medal at the European Championships in Russia in the doubles. But that was also the most important this winter.” Anton Blasbichler – he couldn’t qualify for the World Cup like Batkowski and Schopf – had a similar review: “The season was for sure not my best but it is a good motivation for the upcoming one. A season like this should not mark the end of my career …”, he said smiling. Final Results World Cup Women: 1. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS), 1:19,74(1), 1:18,59 (1), 2:38,33 2. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:21,21(3), 1:18,82(2), 2:39,03 3. Renate GIETL (ITA), 1:20,00(2), 1:19,28(4), 2:39,28 4. Greta PINGGERA (ITA), 1:20,70(4), 1:19,18(3), 2:39,88 5. Veronika NACHMANN (GER), 1:21,05(5), 1:20,19(5), 2:41,24 6. Alexandra OBRIST (ITA), 1:21,3287), 1:20,25(7), 2:41,57 7. Michaela MAURER (GER), 1:21,93(8), 1:20,23(6), 2:42,16 8. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT), 1:21,20(6), 1:21,27(10), 2:42,47 9. Carmen PLANÖTSCHER (ITA), 1:22,12(10), 1:20,63(9), 2:42,75 10. Marlies WAGNER (AUT), 1:22,84(12), 1:20,44(8), 2:43,28 Final Results World Cup Men: 1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA), 1:16,97(3), 1:16,79(1), 2:33,76 2. Hannes CLARA (ITA), 1:16,55(1), 1:17,62(2), 2:34,17 3. Alex GRUBER (ITA), 1:16,95(2), 1:17,68(3), 2:34,63 4. Florian BREITENBERGER (ITA), 1:17,76(6), 1:17,98(4), 2:35,74 5. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:17,41(4), 1:18,42(9), 2:35,83 6. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT), 1:17,70(5), 1.18,26(7), 2:35,96 7. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT), 1:18,05(9), 1:18,40(8), 2:36,45 8. Thomas KAMMERLANDER, (AUT), 1:18,30(10), 1:18,16(5), 2:36,46 9. Michael SCHEIKL (AUT), 1:18,04(8), 1:18,60(10), 2:36,64 10. Florian CLARA (ITA), 1:17,84(7), 1:19,26(16), 2:37,10 11. Georg MAURER (GER), 1:18,43(12), 1:18,76(14), 2:37,19 12. Stanislav KOVSHIK (RUS), 1:18,62(15), 1:18,61(11), 2:27,23 WÜRZ Energy Overall World Cup Final Ranking Women (6/6): 1. Ekatharina LAVRENTJEVA (RUS) 600 2. Renate GIETL (ITA) 480 3. Melanie SCHWARZ (ITA) 310 4. Melanie BATKOWSKI (AUT) 295 5. Tina UNTERBERGER (AUT) 274 6. Evelin LANTHALER (ITA) 245 7. Ludmila AKSENENKO (RUS) 241 8. Veronika NACHMANN (GER) 233 9. Marlies WAGNER (AUT) 230 10. Michaela MAURER (GER) 182 11. Petra DRAGICEVIC (SLO) 180 12. Christina GÖTSCHL (AUT) 162 13. Tamara SCHWARZ (ITA) 155 14. Katrin MLADEK (AUT) 101 WÜRZ Energy Overall World Cup Final Ranking Men (6/6): 1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA) 600 2. Hannes CLARA (ITA) 425 3. Alex GRUBER (ITA) 363 4. Michael SCHEIKL (AUT) 345 5. Rudi RESCH (ITA) 242 6. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT) 240 7. Stanislav KOVSHIK (RUS) 228 8. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT) 226 9. Thomas KAMMERLANDER (AUT) 222 10. Juri TALIKH (RUS) 220 11. Florian CLARA (ITA) 200 12. Adam JEDRZEJKO (POL) 195 13. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT) 191 14. Stefan GRUBER (ITA) 156