From Bludenz, AUT
(December 21, 2024) – Pietro Drovanti had come close, but until Saturday had never struck gold in the Europe Cup skeleton tour. That changed in Bludenz, as the Italian tied with Germany’s Stefan Röttig for the win.
Like Friday, it was a one-heat race in Bludenz for the men. Germany’s Timm Beiwinkler was first off and set a time of 32.07. That time stood for three more sleds until Olympic bronze medalist Wengang Yan sild to the lead, .18 ahead of Beiwinkler.
Röttig took the lead from Yan by just .02 from the seventh starting spot. That time held throughout the rest of the race. But Drovanti out-pushed Röttig by .03, and had the quick split at every point down the 700 meter track. He came back to Röttig with the duo tying for the lead.
Nobody else could match the athletes in the top three from that point on, with Drovanti and Röttig co-winners in the last race before the holiday break, and Yan in third, .02 back.
Austria’s Florian Auer missed out on a podium by a tenth of a second and finished fourth, ahead of Germany’s Ludwig Mannhardt and Felix Seibel, who were tied for fifth.
USA’s Dan Barefoot tied for eighth with Guido Persoon of The Netherlands. Nick Tucker scored yet another top 15 finish in 13th place, tied with Germany’s Niels Sommer. Darryl Payne finished 21st, while Sam Allred couldn’t find speed in Bludenz and finished 42nd.
With three races to go in the 2024/2025 Europe Cup skeleton season, Wengang Yan sits 14 points ahead of Stefan Röttig. Felix Seibel and Ludwig Mannhardt are third and fourth, with Florian Auer fifth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Finish |
| 1 | Pietro Drovanti | ITA | 13 | 4.25 | 31.87 |
| 1 | Stefan Röttig | GER | 7 | 4.28 | 31.87 |
| 3 | Wengang Yan | CHN | 4 | 4.31 | 31.89 |
| 4 | Florian Auer | AUT | 5 | 4.35 | 31.99 |
| 5 | Ludwig Mannhardt | GER | 10 | 4.33 | 32.03 |
| 5 | Felix Siebel | GER | 6 | 4.39 | 32.03 |
| 7 | Timm Beiwinkler | GER | 1 | 4.32 | 32.07 |
| 8 | Guido Persoon | NED | 42 | 4.23 | 32.11 |
| 8 | Daniel Barefoot | USA | 2 | 4.33 | 32.11 |
| 10 | Roman Tanzer | AUT | 40 | 4.35 | 32.20 |
| 10 | Valentino Buff | SUI | 11 | 4.53 | 32.20 |
| 10 | Guoqing Yu | CHN | 3 | 4.35 | 32.20 |
| 13 | Niels Sommer | GER | 15 | 4.38 | 32.27 |
| 13 | Nick Tucker | USA | 14 | 4.33 | 32.27 |
| 15 | Martin Krause | GER | 33 | 4.37 | 32.28 |
| 16 | Zhongxu Lin | CHN | 8 | 4.32 | 32.32 |
| 17 | Joeri Van Kuppeveld | NED | 18 | 4.27 | 32.35 |
| 18 | Lars Rumo | SUI | 19 | 4.47 | 32.43 |
| 19 | Hayato Kawano | JPN | 12 | 4.31 | 32.44 |
| 20 | Lorenzo Conti | ITA | 41 | 4.28 | 32.55 |
| 21 | Darryl Payne | USA | 37 | 4.32 | 32.57 |
| 22 | Michal Jakobczyk | POL | 17 | 4.37 | 32.59 |
| 23 | Roujun Zheng | CHN | 9 | 4.35 | 32.59 |
| 24 | Gidon Bante | NED | 29 | 4.36 | 32.65 |
| 25 | Andrea Monti | ITA | 21 | 4.40 | 32.70 |
| 26 | Maxime Mingeon | FRA | 35 | 4.43 | 32.71 |
| 26 | Manuel Schwärzer | ITA | 20 | 4.40 | 32.71 |
| 28 | Taido Nagao | JPN | 43 | 4.29 | 32.72 |
| 29 | Peter Jedinak | SVK | 23 | 4.57 | 32.85 |
| 30 | Marko Vincic | SRB | 30 | 4.53 | 32.86 |
| 31 | Liam Kleber | SUI | 36 | 4.42 | 32.87 |
| 32 | Lazar Mikic | SRB | 31 | 4.57 | 32.93 |
| 33 | Sander de Haan | NED | 28 | 4.37 | 32.95 |
| 34 | Vladyslav Polyvach | POL | 16 | 4.42 | 33.02 |
| 35 | Samuele Battaini | SUI | 38 | 4.47 | 32.21 |
| 36 | Bor van den Berg | NED | 24 | 4.50 | 33.33 |
| 37 | Felix de Wit | NED | 26 | 4.61 | 33.44 |
| 38 | Sven Reich | SUI | 32 | 4.56 | 33.47 |
| 39 | Bogdan Despotovic | SRB | 27 | 4.67 | 33.76 |
| 40 | Martin Souto Otero | ESP | 39 | 4.67 | 33.87 |
| 41 | Pau Olive Miro | ESP | 34 | 4.68 | 33.88 |
| 42 | Sam Allred | USA | 25 | 4.36 | 34.04 |
| 43 | Maurin Fischbacher | SUI | 22 | 4.75 | 34.53 |
| 44 | Tirso Ocana de la Vega | ESP | 44 | 4.69 | 34.68 |