Bobsleigh news - Friedrich and Schueller take two-man top spot in La Plagne

The German pair of Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schueller claimed victory in the third two-man Bobsleigh World Cup event of the season in La Plagne.

The win in France saw Friedrich claim his second stage win out of three with a combined time of 1:58.52 after two runs, finishing 0.26 seconds ahead of Oskars Kibermanis and Matiss Miknis of Latvia.

Michael Vogt and Sandro Michel of Switzerland finished third 0.34 seconds behind, while the British team of Brad Hall and Greg Cackett couldn’t capitalise on their second fastest time in the first run, eventually finishing fourth.

Saturday’s victory was Friedrich’s second of the season, with success on the second day at Lake Placid in December already under his belt.

The German currently sits atop the overall leaderboard on 660 points after three events, with Kibermanis his closest challenger 66 points adrift.

Canadian Justin Kripps slips down to third in the rankings after he and Cameron Stones only managed a tenth placed finish in France with a time of 1:59.54.

German duo Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi earned their first ever BMW IBSF World Cup victory in the two-woman bobsleigh event in La Plagne.

21-year-old Nolte was competing in just her second ever World Cup event, after making her bow in the competition last week in Winterberg.

The pair took the victory in France with a combined time of 2:01.43 minutes after their two runs, beating the Canadian team of Christine de Bruin and Kristen Bujnowski by 0.21 seconds.

Fellow Germans Stephanie Schneider and Leonie Fiebig took the final place on the podium after posting the fastest time on the second run, finishing just 0.01 seconds behind the Canadians overall.

The American pairing of Kaillie Humphries and Lauren Gibbs finished fourth, but Humphries still leads the overall leaderboard after taking victory in the opening two rounds of the competition.

The Lake Placid event winner leads the way on 834 points, with Schneider putting the pressure on in second with 827.

Mariama Jamanka, who finished fifth in France, rounds off the top three on 770 points after four rounds.