Ivanova closes in as Cauce claims debut World Cup win in Winterberg

Julia Taubitz, second in the overall standings, had finished the first run in third place but Latvian Cauce came out on top in a total time of 1m27.481s, beating Ivanova by 0.080 seconds.

Taubitz rounded off the podium, just under two tenths of a second back, with the result meaning Russia’s Ivanova takes a 27-point lead over Taubitz at the top of the overall standings into the final event at Konigssee.

“After my mistake at the World Championships, I told myself that that would never happen to me again,” Cauce said.

“Now I am really happy. The Labyrinth in Winterberg has never been easy to tackle, no matter what the conditions are like. If you make a mistake there, then you crash. It is what it is.”

Meanwhile, in the men’s race, Johannes Ludwig claimed his eighth career World Cup win.

The German finished in a time of 1m52.285s, ahead of Latvia’s Kristers Aparjods and Sebastian Bley.

With one event to go in the overall standings, Russia’s Roman Repilov leads Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller by just one point with defending champion Semen Pavlichenko 54 points off the top.

Sportsbeat 2020