From Altenberg, GER
(December 10, 2025) – Maxmilian Illmann edged otu teammate Alexander Czudaj in Altenberg as part of yet another German sweep of the top four two-man bobsled Europe Cup spots.
Illmann and Felix Dahms trailed Czudaj and Bruno Götzel after one heat by .16, with Hans Peter Hannighofer in third and Laurin Zern fourth as part of the German battle for the top four spots.
In the second heat Zern and Tobias Maul slid to the lead ahead of Great Britain’s Nick Gleeson and Jens Hullah to secure gold for Germany. From there it was just a matter of which German sled would finish first.
Hannighofer and brakeman Erik Leypold edged out Zern and Maul by just .03 to take the lead and guarantee themselves at least a bronze medal. Illmann was next, and handily disposed of Hannighofer by .76 to put the pressure on Czudaj.
Czudaj put down an otherwise quick and clean run, but was out-paced by Illmann in his second run to fall behind by .03 and take silver, with Illmann gold.
The gold was Illmann’s third straight medal to start the 2025/2026 season.
Czudaj was second, Hannighofer third and Zern fourth for yet another sweep of the top four. Gleeson took fifth and Romania’s Andrei Turea and Rares Dinca rounded out the top six.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Illmann / Dahms | GER | 2 | 5.38 | 5.31 | 55.58 | 55.61 | 1:51.19 |
| 2 | Czudaj / Götzel | GER | 1 | 5.30 | 5.26 | 55.42 | 55.80 | 1:51.22 |
| 3 | Hannighofer / Leypold | GER | 5 | 5.32 | 5.31 | 55.71 | 56.24 | 1:51.95 |
| 4 | Zern / Maul | GER | 3 | 5.36 | 5.38 | 55.84 | 56.14 | 1:51.98 |
| 5 | Gleeson / Hullah | GBR | 8 | 5.23 | 5.25 | 56.14 | 56.28 | 1:52.42 |
| 6 | Turea / Dinca | ROU | 10 | 5.46 | 5.43 | 56.25 | 56.33 | 1:52.58 |
| 7 | Variola / Batti | ITA | 13 | 5.40 | 5.39 | 56.36 | 56.46 | 1:52.82 |
| 8 | Kranz / Tschofen | LIE | 16 | 5.43 | 5.42 | 56.38 | 56.46 | 1:52.84 |
| 9 | Shinohara / Kariya | JPN | 12 | 5.50 | 5.52 | 56.74 | 56.34 | 1:53.08 |
| 10 | Prochazka / Petrikovic | CZE | 11 | 5.39 | 5.36 | 56.71 | 56.52 | 1:53.23 |
| 11 | Verginer / Lambrughi | ITA | 14 | 5.26 | 5.27 | 57.24 | 56.20 | 1:53.44 |
| 12 | Rohn / Toure | SUI | 7 | 5.68 | 5.71 | 56.83 | 56.74 | 1:53.57 |
| 13 | Baechler / Laporal | FRA | 9 | 5.51 | 5.51 | 57.19 | 56.65 | 1:53.84 |
| 14 | Scherrer / Matthys | SUI | 4 | 5.65 | 5.67 | 57.20 | 56.89 | 1:54.09 |
| 15 | Matsuoka / Kato | JPN | 15 | 5.40 | 5.43 | 57.15 | 56.96 | 1:54.11 |
| 16 | Felder / Maly | SUI | 6 | 5.70 | 5.71 | 57.68 | 57.35 | 1:55.03 |