December 29, 2013 (Oberhof, GER) – Canada’s Alex Harvey looked destined for more greatness laying down the fastest qualifying time this morning. After acing his quarter final he looked strong in his semi but on a small climb in tight quarters Alexander Legkov (RUS) stepped on his ski which became his undoing.

Halfvarsson wins his first World Cup © Nordic Focus

Harvey finished 11th on the day and holds on to the leader’s bib – he’s the first North American man to wear it and the second North American ever to capture the bib which American Kikkan Randall accomplished for the first time last year also winning the prologue.

“The qualifier doesn’t mean much in the big picture, but it still means you were the fastest at the time so that is important,” said Harvey. “Given the rougher start we’ve had to the year, we’ll take any of these small victories. Yesterday’s win was huge for the confidence. Winning a World Cup has only happened once before for me so yesterday’s results were huge for all of us.”

Alex Harvey (CAN) © Nordic Focus

“It was a bittersweet day, but overall more sweet,” added Harvey. “Legkov tried to pass me when there was no room but that happens on tight courses. It was bad luck because I was in good position in third spot, but that is racing. It was good to have the body the way it was and the speed was there so I’m happy with how things are going and that I keep the leader’s bib.”

Legkov didn’t make the final but Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson was all business today qualifying 5th and winning his quarter and semi final heats with panache proving to be unstoppable in the final contest as well to claim his first career World Cup win. With his victory today Halfvarsson is now the men’s sprint leader.

Andy Newell (USA) © Nordic Focus

The USA’s Andy Newell was the top North American in 1oth looking good early on a well with an 11th-place finish in the qualification and then racing smart and smooth in his quarter final to advance to the semis. But he seemed to run out of gas or got boxed in and could not recover ending 5th in his heat and 10th on the day. His teammate Simi Hamilton was just out of the running in 35th while Noah Hoffman placed 95th.

“We were faced with some pretty tough conditions with strong winds and a mix of snow throughout the day. I felt strong in the QF trying to sit back and attack in the finishing stretch. Because of the new snow falling on old wet snow the track was really slow in places and with the headwind in the finishing 300 meters it really came down to having a strong finish. So I was stoked to be able to pass the German in the QF and out-lunge him to advance,” Newell told Trax post-race.

“In the semi finals I tried to do the same thing but the snow continued to come down a bit harder making the finishing stretch very slow and a little bit tougher to pass. It was kind of funny because everyone was waiting until the end to try to make their move but the new snow and wind was making it very difficult to get around people and ski fast while breaking your own track. As the heats advanced some athletes had great skis for the conditions and others didn’t which became very evident.

“We traveled to Switzerland last night and will be here getting ready for another skate sprint on Tuesday. I’ve never raced the sprint course here but I’m excited to try to make it to the finals again. I know my fitness and speed is at a world cup top 10 level I jut need to make smart decisions out there,” added Newell.

Devon Kershaw (CAN) © Nordic Focus

Canada’s Devon Kershaw, also looked strong today qualifying in 10th spot but was matched up with Harvey in their quarter final where he finished fourth and did not advance ending up 18th. Fellow Canuck Ivan Babikov qualified 101st.

Italy’s Fredrico Pellegrino skied into second spot, while Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby rounded out the men’s podium in third for his best-ever sprint result.

Qualifications here.
Full results here.
TdS Overall here.

Final podium (l-r) Johnsrud Sundby 3rd, Halfvarsson 1st, Pellegrino 2nd © Nordic Focus