The 2019 world mixed team champion, who did not compete in this season’s IBSF World Cup, joined the German team late on after Felix Keisinger secured his own place in the event by triumphing at his home IBSF Junior World Championships in Winterberg earlier this month.

Setting a track record of 55.86sec on his second run, Grotheer will now begin the second day of competition tomorrow as the athlete to beat.

His overall time stands at 1:52.03, giving him a lead of 0.09 seconds over compatriot Alexander Gassner.

"I feel like I can race a bit more freely here, sure," Grotheer, whose one and only IBSF World Cup win came in Altenberg in 2017, said.

"I’ve trained well the last few weeks and found the speed that somehow seemed to evade me all season."

He added: "The second run was good from start to finish.

"Tomorrow is a new day and you need consistency to keep up with the medals."

Completing a German top three is Axel Jungk, who clocked the fastest time in run one, 56.15, and ended the day 0.35 seconds back.

Latvia’s Martins Dukurs, the defending world champion and current record holder with a total of six global titles to date, is in fourth place, 0.52 seconds behind.

Olympic champion Yun Sung-bin of South Korea is 0.89 seconds off the pace in fifth, while Keisinger is 0.98 seconds back in fifth.

Runs one and two in the women's skeleton event will precede the men's final tomorrow.