From Deutschnofen, ITA
(January 17, 2026) – Maxmilian Pichler and Nico Edlinger slid to their third victory of the season as the duo edged out Matthias and Peter Lambacher for gold.
The one heat raced kicked off with Bulgarians Antoni Stoichkov and Petar Savov putting down a clean if not unspectacular run. Czechia’s Tomas Hasek and David Rydl then out-slid them by over a second to take the lead.
Pichler and Edlinger were next. Their start was the quickest of the race, and their slide was the first under a full minute, putting the pressure on the remainder of the field.
Gabriel and Samuel Halcin were next and couldn’t match the pace of the Austrians, crossing the finish line over four seconds back.
Tobias Paur and Andreas Hofer pulled off the top with their usual competitive start, an dearly on looked like they’d be in the hunt for medals. But a late crash dropped the duo to the bottom of the time sheet.
The door was open for Matthias and Peter Lambacher to slide to a win. The duo were outstarted by Pichler and Edlinger, but were ahead early on. A couple slightly messy curves late in their run set them back, and they finished .34 back, good enough for silver behind the Austrians, with Halcin and Halcin third.
Pichler and Edlinger’s win was their third in three races entered after missing the race in Passeiteral due to injury. Lambacher and Lambacher slid to silver for the second time this season and theird third straight medal.
“This really is a successful comeback,” Pichler said after the race. “It couldn’t be better. I didn’t expect us to be right back on the top step of the podium straight after the injury break!”
Halcin and Halcin’s bronze is their third in four races.
With two race weekends to go, Lambacher and Lambacher lead Pichler and Edlinger by 30 points, with Paur and Hofer in third, ten points behind the Austrians. Halcin and Halcin are fourth.
Results:
| Pos | Names | Nation | Bib | Start | Total |
| 1 | Pichler / Edlinger | AUT | 3 | 17.76 | 59.91 |
| 2 | Lambacher / Lambacher | ITA | 6 | 18.03 | 1:00.25 |
| 3 | Halcin / Halcin | SVK | 4 | 18.25 | 1:04.12 |
| 4 | Hasek / Rydl | CZE | 2 | 19.00 | 1:04.20 |
| 5 | Stoichkov / Savov | BUL | 1 | 19.28 | 1:05.74 |
| 6 | Paur / Hofer | ITA | 5 | 18.01 | 1:27.31 |