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Steu / Koller won in Igls ahead of Müller / Frauscher, coach Friedl is surprised. Brothers Gleirscher and Müller finished fourth to sixth in the men’s singles in the hole win.
The start of the World Cup season for the artificial slide at Igls brought a double victory for Austria. It was more likely that the men’s single-seater was thought possible, but the two-seater was right in the end. Thomas Steu / Lorenz Koller won the home race ahead of their compatriots Yannick Müller / Armin Frauscher. In the men’s car, when the German Felix Loch won, the ÖRV podium just failed. In the end, he went from fourth to sixth place.
Steu / Koller led after the first race and also set the fastest time in the second race. Müller / Frauscher catapulted from fourth place with the second fastest time in the decision. They were 0.225 seconds behind. The experienced Germans Toni Eggert / Saascha Benecken were only third (+0.280). Even head coach Marco Friedl did not expect this success: “We are very happy. For Müller / Frauscher it is the second year and there are two firsts. I am very surprised.”
“A great day, double win for Austria, I am very happy for the other two,” said Steu. “We worked hard in the summer, it wasn’t always easy with the injury. I didn’t think it would work that well right away, but now we’re back where we want to be.” Frauscher was delighted: “Our goal was actually the top 6. The fact that we can play with the great players in the 10th World Cup we are competing in shows how great the coaching team is.”
While it is a dream result for the young two-seater duo Müller / Frauscher with their first place on the podium, it is a dream comeback for Steu / Koller after Steus’ tibia and fibula fracture. All the more surprising and above all more convincing at the start of the pre-Olympic season now this performance. For the successful Germans Tobias Wendl / Tobias Arlt, however, only fourth place (+0.334) came in.
In the men’s singles, Olympic champion David Gleirscher finished around 3/100 behind the podium against vice world champion Jonas Müller and his brother Nico Gleirscher in fourth place. The Gleischers dropped two spots on the decision, Müller regained six spots. After the race one found himself in eleventh place due to gang contact on the flatter part, but started a race to catch up. “Fifth place fits very well. But I know I can do better,” said the Vorarlberg man.
Müller celebrated his first World Cup victory in Igls in 2019, David Gleirscher has higher demands on himself just because of his status as an Olympic champion. “Of course that’s annoying,” the Tyrolean commented on his relapse from second place. “Basically though, I am satisfied.” His compatriots Wolfgang Kindl and Reinhard Egger qualified for Sunday’s sprint as 12th and 13th respectively. Felix Loch celebrated his 40th World Cup victory against his compatriot Johannes Ludwig.
