January 02, 2017 (Ruka, Finland) – Team Canada is off to a good start at the 11th Tour de Ski with Alex Harvey in 3rd overall and other team members ready to shine as well as Devon Kershaw and Len Valjas have both landed in the points. Babikov is in his first season as a coach for the Canadian squad and his claim to fame at the Tour was winning the final Alpe Cermis climb in 2009. We caught up with him following yesterday’s 10km CL in Val Mustair as the squad was arriving in Obertsdorf and he talks about the team’s performance, the conditions in Europe, no Canadian women’s team at the TdS and more…

Ivan Babikov, in his new role as head coach of the Canadian National XC Team giving NST racer Graeme Killick split times © Drew Goldsack