Pigneter, Blasbichler, Resch: Clean sweep for Italy’s men’s team Olang/Valdaora (ck) - "I needed that for myself, I just wanted to know where I stand", said Patrick Pigneter (ITA) after his win in the season final. He had already secured his sixth overall world cup win and also his position as the best natural track luge athlete will not be contested in a long time. Nevertheless, his 22nd world cup meant a lot to him: “I knew that I am in good shape, but lately I have always had problems in the second runs. Now I can end the season and be at peace with myself.” He does not know yet, if this was his last season or not: “Something has to change. If the circumstances are right, of course I will be here again”, he said. And he knows what he would want to change: “I wish that in connection with the world cup marketing we would be more present on TV. I could also see different and new formats for the races, maybe even on shorter tracks but nearer to the spectators.” With a more than one second margin between him and the runner up, Pigneter was once again racing in his own league. Behind him, the third place in the overall world cup was highly contested. Between Anton Blasbichler (ITA) and Rudi Resch (ITA) it was Blasbichler who made the race, even though he made a huge mistake: “The track had changed between training and the first competition run and I took the wrong equipment for the softer conditions. This was a stupid mistake which never should have happened”, said two times world champion Blasbichler. So he had to attack from the 7th position after the first run. “I was careful in the first two curves, but then I think I had quite a good run. The fight for the third overall rank was really close and Rudi Resch was my strongest opponent. Thank God I had a bit more luck today”, said Blasbichler. Rudi Resch was satisfied with his season, but had to admit that he had missed his goal: “Before the last race, I was ranked ahead of Blasbichler. All I needed to do was to stay ahead of him. I tried my best, but I could not keep my position.” Final Results Men (33): 1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA), 1:07,39(1), 1:07.67(1), 2:15,06 2. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA), 1:08,43(7), 1:08,01(2), 2:16,44 3. Rudi RESCH (ITA), 1:08,37(4), 1:08,33(3), 2:16,70 4. Alex GRUBER (ITA), 1:08,35(3), 1:08,74(5), 2:17,09 5. Florian CLARA (ITA), 1:08,42(5), 1:1:08,76(6), 2:17,18 6. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT), 1:08,61(9), 1:08,71(4), 2:17,32 7. Stefan GRUBER (ITA), 1:08,28(2), 1:09,33(11), 2:17,61 8. Ziga PAGON (SLO), 1:08,42(5), 1:09,20(9), 2:17,62 9. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT), 1:08,95(11), 1:08,79(7), 2:17,74 10. Thomas SCHOPF (AUT), 1:08,80(10), 1:09,03(8), 2:17,83 11. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT), 1:08,49(8), 1:09,59(14), 2:18,08 12. Stanislav KOVSHIK (RUS), 1:09, 15(12), 1:09,49(13), 2:18,64 Final Standing World Cup Men (6/6): 1. Patrick PIGNETER (ITA) 540 2. Robert BATKOWSKI (AUT) 373 3. Anton BLASBICHLER (ITA) 360 4. Rudi RESCH (ITA) 348 5. Thomas SCHOPF (AUT) 291 6. Gernot SCHWAB (AUT) 265 7. Florian CLARA (ITA) 256 8. Gerald KAMMERLANDER (AUT) 245 9. Michael SCHEIKL (AUT) 241 10. Thomas KAMMERLANDER (AUT) 202 11. Juri TALIKH (RUS) 169 12. Alex GRUBER (ITA) 160 13. Björn KIERSPEL (GER) 158 14. Adam JEDRZEJKO (POL) 153