Eggert and Benecken continue early-season march

The German duo – also the reigning world champions – took the spoils on familiar ice in Winterberg on a podium dominated by the home favourites.

With a total time of 1:27.340, Eggert and Benecken stopped the clock fastest in both of their runs, 0.237seconds ahead of compatriots Tobias Wendl and Tonias Arlt who took second.

Bronze went to Robin Johannes Geueke and David Gamm to complete the German clean sweep despite being fourth after the first run.

A second effort of 43.903s was enough for them to take their place in the top three, leapfrogging Latvia’s Andris and Juris Sics, who were forced to settle for sixth after an underwhelming second effort.

But almost a year to the day since setting the course record, the day belonged to Eggert and Benecken in the second World Cup race of the year.

And this year sees these competitions more pivotal than ever, with the first five races determining the final field of the Olympic luge racers for PyeongChang 2018, which begins in less than three months.

Sportsbeat 2017