Three-time Olympic gold medallist and current World Cup table leader Felix Loch surprisingly lost out to Italy’s Kevin Fischnaller at the main event last weekend in Winterberg.

He managed to recover to take the sprint title, allowing him to keep his lead at the top of the table.

Loch is undoubtedly the favourite going into this event at DKB-Eiskanal but, after failing to win either of the first two main events of the World Cup, the pressure is on the 28-year-old to claim the gold medal in Altenberg given the mere 15 points gap between himself and closest challenger, Russia's Semen Pavlichenko.

Also, unlike the event in Winterberg, Loch will not have the safety net of a sprint  race if he fails to finish top of the podium in Altenberg.

The women’s event is far less open with Geisenberger leading the way on 270 points after two wins from two events and she is expected to claim yet another victory this weekend.

If she wins this season's Luge World Cup, which looks increasingly likely, it will be her sixth consecutive title.

We are also unlikely to see any shocks in the doubles event in Altenberg with the German duo of Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken once again expected to take the gold medal following their superb start to the season.

They are currently 30 points clear at the top of the standings after winning the first two World Cup events.

Altenberg will welcome the second team relay event of the season and, as with all the other events this weekend, we are likely to see further German dominance.

The German team contains the competitions best individual men’s and women’s lugers in the form of  Loch and Geisenberger along with top doubles team, Eggert and Benecken.

Should the quartet win their race, it will be Germany’s 33rd World Cup victory in the team relay, the latest luge discipline to be added to the Olympic programme at Pyeongchang 2018.