LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Steven Holcomb didn’t get that coveted sweep in the World Cup bobsled season opener. There was a silver lining in his second-place finish in four-man, though — teammate Nick Cunningham was standing on the podium next to him.

Alexander Zubkov of Russia won the race Saturday at Mount Van Hoevenberg, sending a message he’ll be a force at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

“We had a great finish today with Nick as well. That’s awesome,” said Holcomb, the defending Olympic champion in four-man. “We’ve got a lot of momentum going into next week.”

Cunningham was in rarefied air after making the podium in just his third World Cup start. He and his crew of Adam Clark, Andreas Drbal and Christopher Fogt had the fastest run of the second heat and finished 0.32 behind the Russians. Cunningham’s starts were both 5.02 seconds, as were Holcomb’s, while Zubkov’s team posted times of 5.06 and 5.02.

“To come out today and just to be with the big-time names in the sport, we’re definitely going to be happy with this and celebrate,” said Cunningham, who began driving after the Vancouver Olympics. “We’re kind of excited just with the athleticism. We really are probably the deepest we’ve ever been. All of our sleds in the 5.0s (at the start). I don’t think that’s ever happened before.”