Altenberg. No one suspected, however, that the only question was: As expected, Bobesley-dominated Francesco Frederick won a two-man race at the World Championships in Ellenberg and set new standards in the process. The 30-year-old pilot from BSC Sachsen Oberbärenburg was first pushed to the World Cup by Alexander Schuler of Leipzig, winning Sunday afternoon with a stunning 2.05-second advantage – and more clearly than last year (1.65 seconds).
It is Frederick’s seventh consecutive and tenth World Cup title overall. Pirnaire took the first level with his two titles last year with Italian Eugenio Monti and crowned himself the only record world champion.
Soon after crossing the finish line, Frederick said, “It’s been an amazing year so far, and was already looking forward to the four-man race and the 2022 Olympics next weekend:” Yes, we’re very satisfied at home. Can go and make preparations for the four- pu form. “
Johannes Lochner / Erik Franke (Königssee / Potsdam) and Junior World Champion Hans-Peter Hannehofer / Christian Roeder (Oborhof) finished second and third, thus ensuring a three-way German victory in this World Cup, which was already The first four runs were decided.
Unexpectedly, the competition is clearly lagging behind
Despite the tough outdoor conditions with heavy snowfall, Frederick / Schuler was the fastest on both the start and the track and was 0.54 seconds ahead of everyone else. It was 0.88 seconds after the second run.
Oskar Kibermanis (Latvia, 6th place), Justin Cripps (Canada, 10th place) and Benjamin Mair (Austria, crashed in the second run) fell far short of expectations, previously considered high.
But even Frederick was not completely satisfied in the end. Given the weather improving (cold, clear, no rain) on Sunday, the extraordinary athlete aimed to improve his own track record (54.00 seconds). As the first pilot, he wanted to break the 54-second sound barrier at Ellenberg. Minor driving errors ruined the project, but it still missed the best running time. And he and Schuler also missed the goal-starting record. That they at least set him at 5.11 seconds in the final time – a small consolation on a great day. “A hundredth less would have been even better,” Schuler said.
final score: 1. Friedrich / Schuler (Oberbrenberg / Halle) 3: 39.78 mins. 2. Lochner / Frank (Stuttgart / Potsdam) +2.05 seconds; 3. Hanneghofer / Roeder (Oborhoff) +2.23; 4. Freedley / Haas (Switzerland) +2.59; 5. Vogt / Michel (Switzerland) +2.63; 6. Kibermanis / Miknis (Latvia) +2.94; 7. Oats / Hammers (Bad Feilnbach / Wiesbaden) +3.04.
You can learn all about the World Championship in Altenberg on our subject page BOB-WM 2021.
Go in, ride and listen: Dresbob, World Cup podcast from Sächsische.de – all episodes here.
