From Igls, AUT
(Nov. 16, 2018) – German Fabian Küchler won the European Cup season opener in Igls, Austria, coming from behind to take gold.
Russian Evgeniy Rukosuev came into the second heat of the competition as the leader, just .03 ahead of Küchler. The German set a blistering time on his second run and put the pressure on Rukosuev in the process. Rukosuev couldn’t answer, and fell to third behind British slider Jack Thomas, with Küchler taking gold and Thomas silver.
The win was the 15th consecutive European Cup top six finish for Küchler, and the seventh gold medal of his career.
American Austin Florian finished fourth, while Alexander Schlinter and Artem Drozdov rounded out the top six.
Stefan Squire finished 14th in his first ever start on the Austrian track, while British teammate Jerry Rice finished 16th.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Fabian Küchler | GER | 4.90 | 4.91 | 52.88 | 52.77 | 1:45.65 |
| 2 | Jack Thomas | GBR | 5.00 | 4.93 | 52.93 | 52.92 | 1:45.85 |
| 3 | Evgeniy Rukosuev | RUS | 4.97 | 5.00 | 52.85 | 53.13 | 1:45.98 |
| 4 | Austin Florian | USA | 4.93 | 4.95 | 53.18 | 53.23 | 1:46.41 |
| 5 | Alexander Schlinter | AUT | 5.07 | 5.03 | 53.24 | 53.18 | 1:46.42 |
| 6 | Artem Drozdov | RUS | 5.11 | 5.08 | 53.22 | 53.22 | 1:46.44 |
| 7 | Wenhao Chen | CHN | 5.02 | 4.97 | 53.31 | 53.50 | 1:46.81 |
| 8 | Robin Schneider | GER | 5.02 | 5.14 | 53.29 | 53.57 | 1:46.86 |
| 8 | Cedric Renner | GER | 5.14 | 5.16 | 53.33 | 53.53 | 1:46.86 |
| 10 | Lukas David Nydegger | GER | 5.20 | 5.22 | 53.51 | 53.54 | 1:47.05 |
| 11 | Krists Netlaus | LAT | 5.17 | 5.21 | 53.72 | 53.49 | 1:47.21 |
| 12 | Mihai Daniel Pacioianu | ROU | 4.97 | 4.97 | 53.56 | 53.69 | 1:47.25 |
| 13 | Wenqiang Geng | CHN | 5.09 | 5.12 | 53.57 | 53.71 | 1:47.28 |
| 14 | Stefan Squire | GBR | 5.12 | 5.12 | 53.70 | 53.60 | 1:47.30 |
| 15 | Daniil Romanov | RUS | 5.04 | 4.98 | 54.03 | 53.30 | 1:47.33 |
| 16 | Jerry Rice | GBR | 5.38 | 5.29 | 53.88 | 53.64 | 1:47.52 |
| 17 | Samuel Keiser | SUI | 5.17 | 5.16 | 53.57 | 54.01 | 1:47.58 |
| 17 | Elvis Veinbergs | LAT | 5.25 | 5.34 | 53.71 | 53.87 | 1:47.58 |
| 19 | Lucas Defayet | FRA | 5.17 | 5.15 | 54.04 | 54.05 | 1:48.09 |
| 20 | Vladyslav Polyvach | POL | 5.20 | 5.25 | 53.96 | 54.29 | 1:48.25 |
| 21 | Amedeo Bagnis | ITA | 5.11 | 54.48 | |||
| 22 | Dmitriy Gizitdinov | RUS | 5.13 | 54.51 | |||
| 23 | Maximilian Goldmann | SUI | 5.35 | 54.76 | |||
| 24 | Carl Adlers | SWE | 5.40 | 55.42 | |||
| 25 | Gabriele Marenchino | ITA | 5.27 | 55.44 | |||
| 26 | Bram Zeegers | NED | 5.44 | 55.93 | |||
| 27 | Roberth Klarqvist | SWE | 5.45 | 56.02 | |||
| 28 | Wicher Nijkamp | NED | 5.11 | 56.16 | |||
| 29 | Colin Freeling | BEL | 5.58 | 56.28 | |||
| 30 | Marin Bangiev | BUL | 5.59 | 56.35 | |||
| 31 | Timon Drahonovsky | CZE | 5.64 | 56.50 | |||
| 32 | Pietro Drovanti | ITA | 5.24 | 56.76 | |||
| 33 | Liam Faalk | SWE | 5.56 | 57.10 | |||
| 34 | Hubert Licman | SLO | 5.98 | 57.88 | |||
| DNS | Kririll Valentovich | RUS | DNS |
