Friedrich crowned European champion in Winterberg

The German and his teammate Thorsten Margis clocked the fastest times over both runs to finish with a combined time of 1:51.67.

That was enough to take the win by 0.71 seconds from compatriots Johannes Lochner and Joshua Bluhm while Latvia's Oskars Kibermanis and Matiss Miknis were third, a further six hundredths back.

It was Friedrich's second European title after previously winning it in 2015 while it was a third win of the season for the German.

"Our start times were good today, so were the runs, well the top section at least," said the three-time World Champion. "You always want to win – I just hope we can continue our run."

Yunjong Won of Korea finished in eighth place, defending his place at the top of the World Cup standings with 736 points, with Rico Peter, fifth in Winterberg, second on 714 points at the halfway point of the season.

Sportsbeat 2017