Matthias and Peter Lambacher were in a class of their own in Passeier. © Ulrich Wilhelm

Lambacher duo celebrates first win of the season in Passeier Valley

The Alpine Luge World Cup kicked off the new year on Saturday in the Passeier Valley with the third doubles race. Reigning world champions Matthias Lambacher and Peter Lambacher celebrated their first victory of the season.

03 January 2026

From: pm

The 874-meter-long natural toboggan run "Bergkristall" was in top condition and demanded everything from the athletes. The only drawback: there were only three teams at the start.

Brothers Matthias and Peter Lambacher set the pace in the morning's training and then mastered all the key sections best in the afternoon's race. With a time of 58,27 seconds, the two South Tyroleans secured their first victory of the season, ahead of their compatriots Tobias Paur and Andreas Hofer (+0,70 seconds) and the junior world champions Gabriel and Samuel Halcin from Slovakia (+2,47).

“We trained hard over the New Year period, and it feels good to be back on track after the problems in Winterleiten. The win is great, but the time is even better; we can be very satisfied with that,” explained Matthias Lambacher at the finish. Paur/Hofer also finished on the podium in the third race: “Two second places and a third place are absolutely perfect. We only need one more win; maybe we’ll manage it in Deutschnofen in two weeks,” said Paur.

Matthias and Peter Lambacher won ahead of the duos Tobias Paur/Andreas Hofer (left) and Gabriel Halcin/Samuel Halcin (right) © Ulrich Wilhelm

The winners from Winterleiten, Maximilian Pichler and Nico Edlinger (AUT), did not start at the World Cup in Passeier. Pichler suffered a cut to his hand a few days ago while preparing the luge track and has to take a break.

The singles races follow on Sunday.

In the overall standings, Lambacher/Lambacher (245 points) now lead narrowly ahead of Paur/Hofer (240), Pichler/Edlinger and Halcin/Halcin (both 200).

On Sunday, the singles races are scheduled at the “Bergkristall-Bahn” in Passeier.