Canadian pilot Pierre Lueders and brakeman David Bissett won Thursday's World Cup two-man bobsleigh race in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Starting from the 19th position, Lueders and Bissett, both from Edmonton, posted the fastest times in both heats and finished with a combined time of two minutes, 14:34 seconds.

It was the first win of the World Cup season for Lueders, who set a track record of 1:06.79 during his second run.

"It definitely is a bit sweeter than some of my other wins because of the weird start we have had to the season," said Lueders. "I know there was a lot of people counting me out saying I was old and should retire but there is a lot of fight in me left and I knew we could still be fast."

Ivo Rueegg and Roman Handschin of Switzerland were second (2:14.64), while countrymen Beat Hefti and Thomas Lamparter of Switzerland were third (2:15.08).

Canadians Lyndon Rush and Lascelles Brown finished 16th in the 24-sled race with a time of 2:16.05.

Thursday's win proved a rare bright spot for Lueders, who has had a tough World Cup season.

Lueders, the 1998 Olympic two-man champion, crashed during a race in Altenberg, Germany, in December and last week in Königssee he was disqualified for being one kilo overweight in the two-man competition after posting the fastest time in the first heat.

"I was very disappointed last week, but at the same token, I knew the push and the drive were very good," said Lueders. "All of these things have never happened before. We have been so used to not having problems because we've never gone through it, but I know we will be better for it in the end."

Hefti leads World Cup two-man standings with 971 point, 40 points ahead of Andre Lange of Germany, who finished 11th in Thursday's race. Rueegg is third with 860 points. Rush is 12th (568) and Lueders is 17th (489).

Also on Thursday, Germany took three of the top four spots in the women's competition.

Berit Wiacker and Sandra Kiriasis were first (2:17.34), Janine Tischer and Cathleen Martini were second (2:17.36), and Anja Winter and Claudia Schramm placed fourth (2:17.82). Great Britain's Jackie Gunn and Nicola Minichiello finished third (2:17.70).

Heather Moyse and Kaillie Humphries were fifth (2:18.10), and fellow Canadians Shelly-Ann Brown and Helen Upperton were 10th (2:19.46).

"It was a pretty good race for me, but I made some errors in my first run," she said. "The starts were good and we are happy."

Lisa Szabon of Nanton, Alta., and Sabrina Notorangelo of Windsor, Ont., were 13th.

With files from Canadian Press