December 02, 2017 (Lillehammer, Norway) – Canada’s Alex Harvey finished 28th as Norway’s Johannes Klaebo continued his class act winning the men’s 1.3km CL Sprint on day one in Lillehammer. Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov was second with teammate Alexander Bolshunov in third. Harvey was the lone North American to qualify with Erik Bjornsen the top American in 35th followed by Andy Newell in 38th.
“I felt strong in the prologue but I lost little bit in my semifinal. I had to change the tactic for the final and wanted to be second before the last downhill and push hard on the home stretch. In the final Bolshunov was skiing very fast right from the start. I had to push hard to keep up with him. Ustiugov attacked before the last uphill and I had to be working hard to keep the position where I wanted to be,” said Klaebo.