German Matthias Hoepfner has edged American Olympic hopeful Todd Hays to win a World Cup two-man bobsled race in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy.
The 29-year-old German and his brakeman, Mark Kuehne, drove their sled to the fastest times in both runs to win with a combined time of 1:47.00.
Hays and brakeman Steve Mesler were second just 0.08 of one second back. Canada's Pierre Lueders and Lascelles Brown finished third (1:47.17).
Hays leads the overall World Cup two-man standings with 340 points. Germany's Andre Lange is second, 38 points back, with Russian Alexandr Zoubkov third (279 points).
The four-man competition completes the racing Sunday.
Some information for this report provided by AP
