Great Britain's Dominic Parsons shrugged off the effects of flu but just missed out on the top ten at the men's skeleton World Cup in Winterberg.
Parsons was ranked ninth after the first run but dropped two places while team-mate and former world champion Kristan Bromley climbed four places on his second run to rank 13th.
Latvia's Martins Dukurs won his first race of the season in convincing fashion, beating brother Tomass by 1.19 seconds in Germany.
In-form Russian Alexander Tretiakov set two start records to continue his consistent run of podium performances to take third.
"I found the best lines and it was a great race for me and a fantastic way to start 2014 with the Olympics so close," said Martins Dukurs.
However, there was disappointment for Great Britain's Ed Smith, who finished 22nd in the first run and didn't get the chance to slide again.
© Sportsbeat 2014