From Laas, ITA
(January 5, 2025) – Maxmilian Pichler and Nico Edlinger continued a strong start to their 2024/2025 World Cup second with another victory, this time in Laas.
In the one heat race, Gabriel and Samuel Halcin were the first off, and held their lead for one sled, as Slovakian teammates Peter and Dominink Neupauer finished nearly .9 behind them.
From there, Matthias and Peter Lambacher, last season’s Laas winners, took over with two teams to go.
Tobias Paur and Andreas Hofer couldn’t match their Italian teammates, but were able to slide into second with one team to go to guarantee a medal.
The final team off were Pichler and Edlinger, the World Cup leaders. They out-started the Lambachers but were behind early. A strong slide on the bottom half of the 850 meter course gave them they victory by just .09.
The win was the first ever for an Austrian doubles team in Laas.
Lambacher and Lambacher took silver, and Paur and Hofer third.
“It was a close call today,” Pichler told the FIL media after the race. “The victory came as a bit of a surprise for us. We didn’t feel comfortable during the morning training session.”
Halcin and Halcin finished fourth, with Neupauer and Neupauer fifth.
At the halfway point of the FIL World Cup season, Pichler and Edlinger lead by 60 points over Pauer and Hofer. Lambacher and Lambacher are 75 points behind the Austrians, with Neupauer and Neupauer fourth and Halcin and Halcin fifth.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start | Finish |
| 1 | Pichler / Edlinger | AUT | 6 | 17.80 | 1:08.60 |
| 2 | Lambacher / Lambacher | ITA | 4 | 17.81 | 1:08.69 |
| 3 | Paur / Hofer | ITA | 5 | 17.72 | 1:09.33 |
| 4 | Halcin / Halcin | SVK | 2 | 18.36 | 1:10.17 |
| 5 | Neupauer / Neupauer | SVK | 3 | 18.18 | 1:11.03 |