From Sigulda, LAT
(December 14, 2024) – Francesco Friedrich won his second straight race to start the 2024/2025 IBSF World Cup two-man bobsled season with a convincing victory over teammate Johannes Lochner.
Friedrich and first year brakeman Simon Wulff had the two quick starts of the competition, and Freidrich the quickest drive in each heat on the way to a .35 second victory over Lochner and brakeman Georg Fleischhauer.
Lochner took the lead handily in the second heat, beating out Austria’s Markus Treichl by .56. That lead held for about two minutes. Friedrich’s second slide was only .05 quicker than Lochner’s but that was more than enough to give Friedrich the win and Germany the one-two finish.
Friedrich’s win was his 49th in IBSF World Cup two-man competition, and his eighth World Cup win in Sigulda. Lochner’s silver was the sixth medal in ten races in Sigulda.
Markus Treichl and Sascha Stepan matched Lochner and Fleischhauer’s second start. Treichl threw down the third quickest run of both heats on his way to a bronze medal, his first ever in two-man and second straight medal after winning four-man silver the week before in Altenberg.
For Stepan, Treichl’s brakeman, the bronze medal was his first ever in two-man bobsled after winning a handful of medals in four-man on the back of Benjamin Maier’s four-man sled.
Just off of the podium in fourth place was Brad Hall and Greg Cackett. The duo had top six starts in both heats, and missed a podium by only .05.
Jekabs Kalenda finished a career-best fifth with brakeman Matiss Miknis.
China’s Chunjian Li and Yaolong Shi rounded out the top six.
Great Britain put both of their sleds in the top ten. Adam Baird scored a career-best tenth place finish with Austin Milward on his brakes. They edged out Americans Frank Del Duca and Carsten Vissering who finished 11th in Vissering’s first career World Cup two-man start.
The race was marred by a myriad of crashes, including two by two-time Sigulda winner Adam Ammour. The German flipped in the first heat and ended the heat in 19th place. In the second heat he flipped in nearly the same spot, but again was able to cross the finish line to get credit for a 17th place effort.
Matej Behounek finished 16th despite a crash in the second heat, while Jinsu Kim and Mihai Tentea both crashed in their first heats, received times, but chose to not start the second heat.
Two races into the 2024/2025 IBSF World Cup two-man season, Francesco Friedrich leadas Johannes Lochner by 30 points. Brad Hall sits third on the strength of two fourth places finishes, while Jekabs Kalenda and Markus Treichl round out the top five.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Friedrich / Wulff | GER | 5 | 4.78 | 4.83 | 49.13 | 49.55 | 1:38.68 |
| 2 | Lochner / Fleischhauer | GER | 13 | 4.86 | 4.89 | 49.43 | 49.60 | 1:39.03 |
| 3 | Treichl / Stepan | AUT | 2 | 4.89 | 4.89 | 49.60 | 49.99 | 1:39.59 |
| 4 | Hall / Cackett | GBR | 8 | 4.94 | 4.96 | 49.65 | 49.99 | 1:39.64 |
| 5 | Kalenda / Miknis | LAT | 6 | 4.89 | 4.92 | 49.72 | 50.09 | 1:39.81 |
| 6 | Li / Shi | CHN | 7 | 4.98 | 4.96 | 49.84 | 50.03 | 1:39.87 |
| 7 | Follador / Rolli | SUI | 4 | 5.01 | 5.02 | 49.84 | 50.11 | 1:39.95 |
| 8 | Baumgartner / Mircea | ITA | 10 | 5.02 | 5.02 | 49.90 | 50.13 | 1:40.03 |
| 9 | Rohner / Hersperger | SUI | 11 | 5.04 | 5.07 | 49.96 | 50.15 | 1:40.11 |
| 10 | Baird / Milward | GBR | 18 | 5.02 | 5.01 | 50.00 | 50.12 | 1:40.12 |
| 11 | Del Duca / Vissering | USA | 14 | 4.98 | 4.98 | 50.12 | 50.19 | 1:40.31 |
| 12 | Vain / Prevost | MON | 15 | 5.03 | 5.07 | 50.24 | 50.34 | 1:40.58 |
| 13 | Sun / Ye | CHN | 17 | 5.01 | 5.06 | 50.20 | 50.60 | 1:40.80 |
| 14 | Turea / Dinca | ROU | 3 | 5.11 | 5.10 | 50.42 | 50.59 | 1:41.01 |
| 15 | Variola / Ragazzi | ITA | 16 | 5.02 | 5.06 | 50.39 | 50.69 | 1:41.08 |
| 16 | Behounek / Dobes | CZE | 19 | 5.02 | 5.01 | 50.41 | 53.56 | 1:43.97 |
| 17 | Ammour / Stadelmann | GER | 9 | 4.81 | 5.51 | 65.07 | 62.66 | 2:07.73 |
| DNS | Tentea / Iordache | ROU | 1 | 4.99 | 56.41 | DNS | DNS | |
| DNS | Kim / Kim | KOR | 12 | 4.94 | 54.27 | DNS | DNS |