From Kühtai, AUT
(Dec. 16, 2018) – Alex Gruber came from behind in Kühtai to win the season opener on the FIL Natural Track World Cup tour.
The Italian came into the second heat in third, just .09 behind leader Thomas Kammerlander on the short Austrian course. On the second run Gruber set the quick time, edging Austrians Kammerlander and Florian Glatzl, who finished second and third, respectively.
Patrick Pigneter came into the second heat just .02 behind Kammerlander, but was shuffled back to fourth, only .01 out of the medals and .08 out of gold.
Michael Scheikl and Florian Clara rounded out the top six, while Christian Schopf and Stefan Federer helped make all top 8 positions either Italian or Austrian.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Alex Gruber | ITA | 36 | 7.94 | 7.88 | 28.48 | 28.31 | 56.79 |
| 2 | Thomas Kammerlander | AUT | 37 | 7.86 | 7.80 | 28.39 | 28.43 | 56.82 |
| 3 | Florian Glatzl | AUT | 32 | 7.89 | 7.71 | 28.51 | 28.35 | 56.86 |
| 4 | Patrick Pigneter | ITA | 35 | 7.88 | 7.98 | 28.41 | 28.46 | 56.87 |
| 5 | Michael Scheikl | AUT | 34 | 7.88 | 7.80 | 28.51 | 28.52 | 57.03 |
| 6 | Florian Clara | ITA | 30 | 8.08 | 8.02 | 28.69 | 28.70 | 57.39 |
| 7 | Christian Schopf | AUT | 28 | 7.80 | 7.89 | 28.84 | 28.96 | 57.80 |
| 8 | Stefan Federer | ITA | 31 | 7.90 | 7.89 | 29.20 | 29.22 | 58.42 |
| 9 | Aleksandr Egorov | RUS | 29 | 8.18 | 8.21 | 29.41 | 29.61 | 59.02 |
| 10 | Jack Leslie | NZL | 27 | 8.20 | 8.13 | 29.41 | 29.71 | 59.12 |
| 11 | Gregory Bukin | RUS | 33 | 7.92 | 8.01 | 29.36 | 29.78 | 59.14 |
| 12 | Iurii Talykh | RUS | 26 | 8.06 | 7.97 | 29.43 | 30.03 | 59.46 |
| 13 | Marius Schmelzer | GER | 21 | 8.07 | 8.22 | 30.94 | 31.60 | 1:00.54 |
| 14 | Josef Limmer | GER | 22 | 8.23 | 8.22 | 30.94 | 31.60 | 1:02.54 |
| 15 | Oliver Schiller | GER | 19 | 8.29 | 8.30 | 31.69 | 31.02 | 1:02.71 |
| 16 | Adam Jedrzeijko | POL | 1 | 8.21 | 8.40 | 31.42 | 31.32 | 1:02.74 |
| 17 | Bine Mekina | SLO | 16 | 8.56 | 8.61 | 31.77 | 31.28 | 1:03.05 |
| 18 | Andrii Hirniak | UKR | 17 | 8.51 | 8.41 | 31.96 | 31.26 | 1:03.22 |
| 19 | Rafal Zasuwa | POL | 23 | 8.91 | 8.81 | 33.10 | 32.47 | 1:05.57 |
| 20 | Matevz Vertelj | SLO | 11 | 9.16 | 8.48 | 33.62 | 33.47 | 1:07.09 |
| 21 | Blaz Mekina | SLO | 4 | 8.99 | 8.76 | 33.04 | 34.44 | 1:07.48 |
| 22 | Tomas Hasek | CZE | 10 | 10.13 | 9.65 | 35.43 | 34.90 | 1:10.33 |
| 23 | Vedran Bobvan | CRO | 8 | 9.42 | 9.13 | 36.57 | 34.78 | 1:10.34 |
| 24 | David Rydl | CZE | 12 | 10.90 | 10.28 | 36.43 | 35.63 | 1:122.06 |
| 25 | Myroslav Lenko | UKR | 25 | 8.09 | 8.24 | 48.43 | 32.79 | 1:21.22 |
