Double Olympic champion Francesco Friedrich (Oberbärenburg) started the bobsleigh winter with a win.
The record world champion achieved his 45th World Cup success in the small sled in Whistler, Canada. Johannes Lochner (Stuttgart) also finished third on the podium.
“We are quite satisfied.
Something is still possible everywhere.
We still have reserves on the track and at the start.
We are super happy that it worked out today after the difficult start and after the long journey,” said Friedrich.
National coach Rene Spies praised: "Franz continues where he left off."
On Friday (local time) with brakeman Alexander Schüller, Friedrich was 0.11 seconds faster than second-placed Briton Brad Hall after two runs.
Lochner, who won the silver medal in twos and fours behind Friedrich at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing in February, was already 0.46 seconds behind the Dominator together with Erec Bruckert.
The Vice World Champion started due to an injury in the thoracic spine.
On the very fast and extremely difficult Olympic track from 2010, Friedrich conjured up the fastest time in both runs.
The third German pilot Christoph Hafer (Bad Feilnbach) made it to fifth place together with Matthias Sommer (+0.52 seconds).
In the past two winters, the bobsleigh World Cup was held exclusively in European ice canals due to the corona pandemic.
On Saturday there is another race in the big sled for the men at the same place.
“We look forward to that.
The foursome is even more fun here, even though it's faster,” said Friedrich.