Led by pilot Oskars Melbārdis, the Olympic silver medallists posted a combined time of 1min 42.01sec to earn their third consecutive win and fourth of the season.

"We had so many fans here it felt like we were at home in Latvia," Melbārdis said after the victory.

"It has been a tough battle with Francesco [Friedrich] all season.

"I hope we can win the World Championships too, on his home track."

Friedrich's German team trailed the Latvians by 0.13 seconds to seal a second place finish, which has strengthened their hold of second place in the overall standings.

The team will not participate at the eighth and final World Cup event of the season, in the 2014 Winter Olympic venue of Sochi, as they look to prepare for the World Championships in Winterberg from February 23 to March 8.

That decision means the Latvian team cannot be surpassed at the top of the World Cup leaderboard regardless of their position in the final World Cup event.

Third place in the Igls World Cup event was another German team lead by Nico Walther as they were able to see off competition from Alexander Kasjanov's Russian team by 0.16sec to seal the bronze.

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