After placing third in Wednesday's skiathlon, Finland's Matti Heikkinen claimed his first victory since 2011 on Friday in the men's 15 k skate. Canada once again had four in the top 30, with Alex Harvey leading the team in fourth. “I think it’s one of the best races of my life here," Harvey said of Canmore. Noah Hoffman led the U.S. in 23rd.
Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby won the Ski Tour Canada's brutal Stage 6 skiathlon on Wednesday, putting him third overall in the Tour, while Petter Northug remains in second despite losing precious time to Tour leader Sergey Ustiugov. Canada's Alex Harvey jumped a spot to fourth overall, and his teammates Ivan Babikov and Graeme Killick posted season-best results.
Notes, quotes, photos and even a video of several of the North Americans you've been waiting to hear from at the Ski Tour Canada.
Norway keeps them coming. Norwegian young gun Emil Iversen took Stage 2 of the Ski Tour Canada, the men's 17.5 k classic mass start in Montreal, ahead of an all-star cast, including teammate Petter Northug, Russia's Sergey Ustiugov, and another Norwegian, Martin Johnsrud Sundby. Canada's Alex Harvey skied up to ninth for sixth overall in the Tour.
On a 1.7-kilometer technical course with hustling and jostling, U.S. sprinter Simi Hamilton proved he had the tactics and the lungs to ski with the world's best on Tuesday. He placed third in the Ski Tour Canada's opening skate sprint, 0.09 seconds behind Russia's Sergey Ustiugov in first and 0.01 behind France's Richard Jouve in second.
With fewer than two weeks remaining until the Ski Tour Canada visits Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec City, and Canmore from March 1-12, we spent some time breaking down the provisional North American picks and estimated costs for Canadian nation's group skiers at the season-ending World Cups.
There were no Norwegians on the podium Saturday in Falun, Sweden. Russia secured the top two with Maxim Vylegzhanin in first and Alexander Bessmertnykh in second, and France’s Maurice Manificat finished third. American Erik Bjornsen to a second-best 21st, a minute out of first.
Fifty kilometers might seem like plenty of time to ease into a race, but especially in a World Cup race like Holmenkollen, those days are over. “It’s a battle from the start now," Canada's Devon Kershaw explained. His teammate Alex Harvey led the North Americans in 20th, Kershaw placed 23rd, Noah Hoffman of the U.S. was 24th, Graeme Killick of Canada 30th, and U.S. skier Scott Patterson 32nd.
The Norwegians built up what turned out to be an insurmountable lead, despite Russia coming within 6 seconds of them at the finish, to win the men's Nove Mesto World Cup relay on Sunday. The U.S. and Canada skied together throughout the race to place eighth and ninth, respectively.
Maurice Manificat has been waiting for this win all season despite being on the podium twice in the last two months. On Saturday, he beat Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby for his first World Cup victory since 2013. For Sundby, it was a small speed bump on his way to seize control of the 2015/2016 World Cup overall.
On Sunday, Erik Bjornsen showed the world there's a lot more where that came from when it comes to his classic skiing. Same goes for the U.S. men's relay team, which skied in fifth for at least a third of the men's 4 x 7.5 k relay at the Lillehammer World Cup in Norway.
At one point in Saturday's World Cup skiathlon, Alex Harvey wanted to give up. He didn't and ended up 10th, and what's more, Canada placed 21st, 23rd and 24th with Graeme Killick, Devon Kershaw and Ivan Babikov. Noah Hoffman rebounded from 36th at the ski change to finish 25th.
Lenny Valjas was the lone Canadian to qualify on Friday in the first World Cup race of the season, the Ruka Triple classic sprint in Kuusamo, Finland. “Today’s goal was just to qualify and to make it into the points," Valjas explained. "There was no huge expectations."
Two Canadians landed in the top four in Sunday's 15 k freestyle FIS race in Gällivare, Sweden, with Alex Harvey reaching the podium in second and Devon Kershaw missing it by 23 seconds in fourth. Noah Hoffman finished sixth for the U.S., Canada's Ivan Babikov was eighth, and Erik Bjornsen (USA) notched his second-straight top 10.
It looks like winter at the Canmore Nordic Centre, even if the race loop is only 900 meters long. Rosanna Crawford of the Biathlon National Team and Graeme Killick of the National Ski Team won 8 k and 10 k skate races there on Saturday.
After impressive seasons and groundbreaking results at World Championships from Rosie Brennan and Graeme Killick, the American and Canadian have earned the title of FasterSkier's Breakthrough Skiers of 2015.
Cross Country Canada announced its national-team nominations Tuesday with little change to the World Cup and Development rosters. The 2015/2016 Senior National Team will feature 12 athletes ranging from the World Cup to U23 Development Teams.
Thursday's SuperTour Finals action welcomed the 30 and 50 k U.S. Distance Nationals, where Canada's Ivan Babikov won over Colorado's Rune Malo Ødegård and USST/SSCV's Noah Hoffman, who claimed the title of national champion. Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg/Madshus) won the 30 k by just under three minutes over USST/Burke's Liz Stephen.
After winning two medals at the 2015 World Championships, Alex Harvey finished 17th in Sunday's 15 k freestyle in Lahti, Finland. Meanwhile, Emily Nishikawa led the Canadian women in the 10 k and earned her best World Cup result of the season.
Alex Harvey stayed at the front of the pack for most of Sunday's 50 k classic mass start, the final race of 2015 World Championships in Falun, but he couldn't quite get into the position he needed before a four-man finishing sprint -- which he was just behind. Also for Canada, Graeme Killick notched a career-best 19th, and Ivan Babikov placed 30th after leading as well.