The Canadians missed the wax in the men's race on Saturday and ended up with Alex Harvey posting the team's top finish of 30th. "That combination of not-perfect bodies and bad skis is not so much fun," head coach Justin Wadsworth said.
Devon Kershaw was the top Canadian in the men's 50 k freestyle mass start in Holmenkollen in 29th, not quite his 10th-place result in the 50 k classic there last year, but an improvement over his recent outings. Ivan Babikov followed in 33rd, and Alex Harvey did not finish because of back pains.
The classic races of World Championships took place in Val di Fiemme: interval start, relay, marathon. Biathletes competed in Oslo, Americans held their own in Slavic Cup action, and Swedes (and everyone else) gave it their all in the Vasaloppet. Summaries of the action, along with links to reporting and results.
Alex Harvey hung with the group for the first half of Sunday's 50 k, but dropped out of contention and didn't have the skis or the body to catch back up in the final race of the 2013 World Championships. He finished 28th, Graham Nishikawa was 48th and Ivan Babikov pulled out halfway through.
Canada fell short of its expectations in Friday's 4x10 k relay, placing 12th of 18 teams and 2:39.3 behind the winners.
Ivan Babikov had one of the best races of his life on Wednesday with a career-best fourth in the World Championships 15 k freestyle. After a slow start, the man affectionately known as the Canadian "Bulldog" raced to one of the best finishing times, about 30 seconds off the podium.
Coming off a disappointing team sprint, Petter Northug decided to start Wednesday's 15 k freestyle at World Championships to see what could happen. The Norwegian ended up winning the individual start, not usually his best event, to capture his eighth world title.
Aiming for another podium, Canada's Alex Harvey stayed in the mix for most of Saturday's 30 k skiathlon before getting caught behind too many men on the last lap and climbing several places to 13th. Ivan Babikov finished 31st after a strong classic leg, Graham Nishikawa was 51st and Brittany Webster placed 57th for Canada.
Ivan Babikov dropped out and Alex Harvey finished 56th on an inauspicious day for the Canadian men. But head Coach Justin Wadsworth is not worried.
Despite a fall in the exchange zone Canada's Ivan Babikov led the North Americans in the 30 k skiathlon in Sochi, Russian, on Saturday in snowy, challenging conditions. American Noah Hoffman had a tangle of his own but managed to claw his way back to the top 26.
After a short break in the calendar, World Cup action begins again on Friday in Sochi, Russia, with a triple-header. More than the usual amount of intrigue surrounds the upcoming events; in addition to being the first World Cup in almost two weeks, this will be the first international cross-country event to take place at the Olympic venue for the 2014 Games.
Sometimes the wrong wax call can be disastrous. The Canadian men were reminded of that in La Clusaz, France, on Saturday during the mass start 15 k classic, when they chose a mixture of hard wax and klister on a day that ended up better suited for hairies. Ivan Babikov posted the top Canadian finish in 39th.
Ivan Babikov posted the second fastest time of the day while skiing up to 7th in the overall Tour de Ski. Babikov ended the Tour with his highest overall result, and a string of personal bests. Teammate Devon Kershaw finally showed strong form and Lenny Valjas ended his own successful Tour well within the points.
Alexey Poltaranin (KAZ) skied to his second consecutive Tour stage win, besting the Canadian duo of Len Valjas and Alex harvey in a sprint to the line.Dario Cologna (SUI) moved into the overall Tour lead.
Lenny Valjas continues to show top form, racing to an 11th place finish in the 5k classic prologue in Toblach, Italy. Teammate Alex Harvey will withdraw from the Tour de Ski following Saturday's mass start, a plan that has been set for some time.
After getting locked out of their bus, the Canadians didn't have a great start to the day. But for the most part they turned things around. Alex Harvey led the way in 6th and Devon Kershaw placed 12th; Kershaw complimented Ivan Babikov (21st) for attacking hard on the 15 k climb, and Lenny Valjas (25th) for finishing his longest race in years - and doing so quite honorably.
Alex Harvey topped his performance from Saturday and notched fifth in Sunday's pursuit, putting him in fighting position through two stages in the Tour de Ski. Ivan Babikov also made the top 20 for Canada, rising to 19th.
With four men in the Tour de Ski, Alex Harvey led Canada with a season-best of sixth in Saturday's 4 k prologue. While it probably wasn't going to make or break his season, it was still a good sign for him and teammates like Ivan Babikov, who posted a personal best of 32nd.
World Cup Period II starts on Saturday when the Tour de Ski kicks off in Oberhoff, Germany. FasterSkier takes a quick look at the Red Group rankings heading into the next World Cup period.
Alex Harvey (CAN) and Kris Freeman (USA) recorded their best results of the season Thursday at the Alberta World Cup opener, a 15 k classic mass start, to build some confidence and lead their respective teams in Canmore.