Five north American men qualified for the heats of the World Championships 1.4-kilometer classic sprint. Alex Harvey led the charge in the wet and warm conditions to finish fifth overall.
Canada's Alex Harvey rocketed to his best non-stage World Cup result this season with a second-place finish in Saturday's 1.2 k classic sprint in Östersund, Sweden. He closely followed race victor Finn Hågen Krogh, who overtook Italy's Federico Pellegrino in the World Cup sprint standings.
Three of nine athletes met Cross Country Canada's primary standards for selection to the 2015 World Championships Team, and CCC named another six skiers to the team on Monday.
In the final race before a break in World Cup racing, Canada's Alex Harvey recovered from a rough classic portion of the men's 30-kilometer skiathlon in Rybinsk, Russia, to take ninth. Ivan Babikov cracked the top-20 and finished in 19th.
After making it through the qualifier, three Americans and Canadian Alex Harvey were not able to race their way into the semifinals of Saturday's World Cup 1.3 k freestyle sprint in Rybinsk, Russia. However, American Erik Bjornsen had his best sprint result on the World Cup and reached the heats for the first time.
Canadian Alex Harvey took 10th in the World Cup 15 k freestyle individual start in Rybinsk, Russia, taking 10th, while Ivan Babikov placed 22nd and Devon Kershaw finished 36th for Canada. The American men finished 40th and 50th with Erik Bjornsen and Matt Gelso, respectively.
Canadian star Alex Harvey had been pondering an unorthodox plan to classic ski up the Tour de Ski's final climb, but he pulled out after a lackluster result Saturday.
In the tightest race of the 2015 Tour de Ski, German Tim Tscharnke outsprinted four other non-Norwegian skiers to claim his best World Cup result of the season. The current Tour standings now leave the potential for a dramatic final Tour stage on Sunday.
Alex Harvey found himself in a slower group during Thursday's 25 k freestyle pursuit in Toblach, Italy, but still managed to get past Switzerland's Dario Cologna to take the sixth overall in the Tour de Ski. Canadian teammates Devon Kershaw and Ivan Babikov finished 25th and 31st, respectively.
Three Canadians remain in the Tour de Ski, and in the 10 k classic on Wednesday, Alex Harvey led them in 14th -- a result he considered good, not great. Devon Kershaw placed 21st and Ivan Babikov was 32nd.
Now in second after the first two stages of the seven-stage Tour de Ski, Alex Harvey spoke with FasterSkier after an easy training day in Switzerland before the first-and-only, full-on sprint of the 2015 Tour.
With the pace slowed after 2.5 k, the 15 k classic pursuit in Oberstdorf, Germany, looked more like a mass start. From the huge pack of skiers, Petter Northug threaded his way to a sprint finish win, with Alex Harvey of Canada out-double-poling Sweden's Calle Halfvarsson for second.
Sunday's 15 k classic pursuit proved to be rough for the American men on the Tour de Ski. Erik Bjornsen led the Americans in 60th, while Simi Hamilton, following a successful prologue, finished just behind in 61st. Andy Newell suffered a crash and finished in 88th.
Last year, Canada's Alex Harvey won the Tour de Ski prologue. That wasn't going to happen today: "I haven’t quite found my groove in skating this year," he said, but he's still in a great position for tomorrow's 15 k pursuit. Meanwhile, Simi Hamilton of the U.S. Ski Team scored his first World Cup distance points in 26th.
Alex and Pierre Harvey aren't Quebec's only family skiing phenoms. Former Canadian national-team skier Jocelyn Vézina has a 20-year-old daughter, Frédérique Vézina, who's one of the promising up-and-comers on the Canadian ski scene. (In English and French)
Canadians were well behind the leaders in Saturday's World Cup 10/15 k freestyle in Davos, Switzerland. Ivan Babikov and Alex Harvey were the top men, finishing 34th and 38th, while Emily Nishikawa squeaked into the top 50, finishing 49th despite a crash.
Catch up on what you may have missed this weekend, as nordic competitions across the globe are begging to heat up. Here, we recap everything from biathlon in Austria to the cross country World Cup in Switzerland and everything in between.
Check out the quotes that didn't make it into our race reports this weekend, from FasterSkier's on-site coverage from the Davos World Cup 1.3 k sprint.
It has been a year and a half since Lenny Valjas last made an appearance in World Cup sprint heats. Let that sink in. The tall Canadian is thrilled that not only is he back and feeling like himself, but he didn't just squeak in - he qualified tenth and missed a lucky loser spot in the semifinals by just 0.03 seconds.
Photos from an exciting day of World Cup racing in Davos, Switzerland. Take some lessons in classic technique from the best!