January 04, 2017 (Oberstdorf, GER) – Canada’s Alex Harvey took home his first podium of the season finishing third in the men’s 15km Pursuit at Oberstdorf, GER on Stage 4 of the Tour de Ski in battle against Swiss star, and multi-time Tour winner, Dario Cologna.

Tour leader Sergey Ustiugov set a new Tour record with his 4th consecutive stage victory increasing his lead over Martin Johnsrud Sundy (NOR) now to 42.2 seconds heading into tomorrow’s rest day. Finland’s Matti Heikkinen had the fastest time of the day for the second time this season and moved up from 12th to 5th in the overall Tour standings.

“It feels really good. I was really close yesterday in fourth and have been in the top-10 a lot since the beginning of the season so it is a bit of a relief,” said Harvey, who earned the 18th medal of his World Cup career.

“I had chatted with Cologna yesterday that we were going to ski together. We took turns leading and he asked me to pull a bit more on the final lap, but that is when it is all strategy and I was getting ready to charge on the big uphill where I got dropped yesterday.

“Dario was very strong and did a lot of work. I had great fast skis. I knew if I managed that hill right I could take him in the sprint today. I crested over the last hill in his skis and was able to sprint ahead of him in the finish,” he added.

Devon Kershaw had a solid day finishing 21st while Noah Hoffman was the top American in 37th. Graeme Killick finished 43rd with Erik Bjornsen (USA) in 46th.

“I am in great position heading into the final weekend. The technicians have been awesome with giving me great skis everyday,” said Harvey. “It is one of the most consistent seasons of my career for sure. The equipment is good. The training is good and there hasn’t been a bad day yet so everything is coming together and I want to keep it going.”

The Tour will take a rest day now as the focus shifts to Toblach, Italy for stage 5 and the final three races.

Results here.
Overall here.