The German resort was only confirmed as the host for the World Championships last month after the IBSF stripped the event from Sochi because of the Russian doping crisis.

The track is scheduled to play host from February 13 to 26, the same time-frame initially proposed for the event in the 2014 Winter Olympic host.

It means the world's best sliders will be able to test conditions at this weekend's event, while also battling for key ranking points at the sixth World Cup leg of the season.

The overall leaders in all five disciplines only have slight advantages, meaning there is all to race for with three meetings to go.

Alexander Kasjanov of Russia leads the four-man standings with 947 points, in front of Switzerland's Rico Peter, who boasts 915 with his team.

Germany's home driver Johannes Lochner sits third on 842 points and would likely be leading overall had the country not decided to skip bobsleigh competitions at the Lake Placid World Cup leg in order to hone preparations and test equipment at home.

South Korea's Yunjong Won leads the two-man standings with 896 but Germany's Francesco Friedrich, also absent in Lake Placid, is only slightly behind on 885.

The women's bobsleigh standings are led by Kaillie Humphries of Canada, with 1,044 in front of second-placed American Jamie Greubel-Poser who boasts 1,009.

Latvia's Martin Dukurs is the leader of the men's skeleton with 1,036, but South Korea's Sungbin Yun is a close rival in second place on 1,003.

The competition could also see the return of Olympic champion Alexander Tretiakov, with the Russian's provisional suspension due to a doping investigation lifted by the IBSF.

He had been leading the standings but slipped to ninth after being ruled out of the World Cup in Altenberg.

Germany's Jacqueline Loelling leads the women's skeleton competition on 989, with Austria's Janine Flock the nearest challenger on 953.

When stripping Sochi of the World Championships, the IBSF said that "during this difficult time it is prudent not to organise such an event in Russia".

It followed the McLaren Report alleging that more than 1,000 Russian athletes have been implicated in a doping scheme, including medal winners in sliding sports at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Tretiakov and three other Russian skeleton athletes were named, with the IBSF later ruling that there was not enough evidence to keep their suspensions in place.

The women's bobsleigh and women's skeleton will open the World Cup competition tomorrow.

Elsewhere in Germany, the latest round of the IBSF Para-sport World Cup will begin in Oberhof, the event doubling as the European Championships.

Two competitions will be held in both the skeleton and seated bobsleigh disciplines.