From Winterberg, GER
(December 20, 2025) – Maxmilian Illmann once again held off a group of German teammates to win gold in four-man Europe Cup action, but for once there was a non-German interloper on the podium.
It was a one-heat race with Czechia’s Jachym Prochazka pushing off first, but being quickly picked off by Germany’s Laurin Zern. Zern, in turn, saw teammate Hans Peter Hannighofer slide to a .02 advantage from the fourth starting spot.
Illmann was fifth off, and his team of Lukas Koller, Hanrik Proske and Felix Dahms had the quick start off the top and Illmann had the quick slide of the day as he took the lead, and did not relinquish it.
It looked to be another German podium sweep, but Lichtenstein’s Martin Kranz had other plans. Kranz’s team gave him a competitive start, and Kranz had an outstanding slide to slide into second place with four sleds to go.
The only challenger left was Germany’s Tobias Dostthaler, making his first start of the season in Europe Cup action. He was quick, but was unable to match his teammates’ pace and slid to fifth.
The win went to Illmann, with Kranz scoring a career-best silver medal. Hannighofer won bronze, with Zern, Dostthaler, and Mattia Variola rounding out the top six.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start | Finish |
| 1 | Illmann / Koller / Proske / Dahms | GER | 5 | 5.10 | 54.31 |
| 2 | Kranz / Lenherr / Kesseler / Tschofen | LIE | 9 | 5.22 | 54.53 |
| 3 | Hannighofer / Bosse / Steube / Leypold | GER | 4 | 5.14 | 54.56 |
| 4 | Zern / Maul / Hempel / Schenk | GER | 2 | 5.14 | 54.58 |
| 5 | Dostthaler / Natho / Klein / Kocevar | GER | 12 | 5.21 | 54.76 |
| 6 | Variola / Batti / Verginer / Lambrughi | ITA | 6 | 5.13 | 54.98 |
| 7 | Prochazka / Bures / Havelka / Petrikovic | CZE | 1 | 5.22 | 55.16 |
| 8 | Turea / Dumitrache / Calancea / Dinca | ROU | 8 | 5.31 | 55.24 |
| 9 | Rohn / Toure / Hohl / Maly | SUI | 3 | 5.40 | 55.33 |
| 10 | Baechler / Afagbegee / Alais / Laporal | FRA | 10 | 5.33 | 55.46 |
| 11 | Zakrzewski / Sosna / Jakobczyk / Sarnecki | POL | 13 | 5.29 | 55.48 |
| 12 | Gleeson / Hullah / Dixon / Williams | GBR | 11 | 5.13 | 55.77 |
| 13 | Sletten / Hansen / Grothe / Lindberg | NOR | 7 | 6.08 | 57.45 |