Winter sports: Bob: Friedrich beaten on his home track

Next warning shot for Francesco Friedrich: Five weeks before the Olympic Winter Games, the series world champion in two-man bobsleigh also missed his victory on his home track.

The 27-year-old from the BSC Oberbärenburg finished second behind the Canadian Justin Kripps, who has been strong for months, on Saturday at the World Cup in Altenberg, Saxony, with Martin Grothkopp as the lead singer.

Nico Walther (Oberbärenburg) and Christian Poser finished in a good third place. The first race in the Olympic year was disappointing for four-man World Champion Johannes Lochner (Stuttgart), who finished seventh with Joshua Bluhm.

“Justin did a hell of a good job,”said Friedrich on ARD television:”He was better at the start and also had good rides. I am still missing a little bit, I am still a little inexperienced on my current sled. I just need a few more rides, but I’m still confident.”

The result shows how strong the Canadians are in Pyeongchang. Kripps is the overall leader of the pair, after three second places this season he has now won his first victory in Friedrich’s territory.

With a view to the games in Pyeongchang (9. till 25. February) remains a mystery. In recent years, he had mastered the competition in the small sled to some extent, becoming world champion four times in a row since 2013. This winter, on the other hand, the Saxon has only won once. With places two and one, Friedrich showed much improved form at the last two World Cups, but it is against this background that the missed victory at his home track in Altenberg is now a disappointment.

In addition, the question of materials has not yet been resolved. After last winter’s successes with the sled of the Austrian manufacturer Wallner, Friedrich was unable to cope with the newly developed bobsleigh for a long time this year and has now switched back to a device from the original manufacturer FES for the time being.