February 23, 2019 (Seefeld, AUT) – Canada’s Alex Harvey, 30, emptied the tank to post a strong 6th-place result in the men’s 30-kilometre skiathlon at the World Nordic Skiing Championships in Seefeld, Austria on Saturday.

Norway’s Sjur Roethe took the gold, followed by Alexander Bolshunov of Russian who won the silver, while Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway was third across the line for the bronze.

“It was two very distinct phases of the race today. I expected a hard pace right from the gun, but the classic course was on the harder side today,” said Harvey battled through warm temperatures and a challenging classic-ski portion of the race . “It is a bit weird. Normally when you are in the top-six you are in a mass start fighting for the podium until the end, but that wasn’t the case today. I was never really in the hunt.”

For the U.S. men, Scott Patterson was the top finisher with a hard fought 32nd on a rapidly warming course. American David Norris was 38th, Canada’s Evan Palmer-Charrette was 48th, Kyle Bratrud finished 49th, Adam Martin was 54th and Toronto’s Scott Hill was 58th. (1:20:20.6).

“It was a tough classic as the lead group took it out really hard,” said Patterson. “I was struggling a little with kick and dug myself into a hole and burned my legs a bit. My skis were fast, so I just tried to hold on as much as I could. When we switched to skate, I was waiting for my legs to come around, trying to get going and it never quite happened.”

“I missed the boat in the classic and the gap was made there. The equipment was great, but I just wasn’t skiing well and couldn’t create enough speed – especially on the flat part of the course,” added Harvey, a three-time Olympian from St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que. “The level is so high out here and I just haven’t been skiing classic well all year. As soon as I clicked into the skate skis, I was feeling really good. I was skiing with a lot of big names, guys started popping a bit from the back and I was feeling really confident leading that group. The skiathlon is my favourite race. I will draw a lot of confidence from the skate today, but I am disappointed with the classic.”

The World Championships continue Sunday with the men’s and women’s classic team sprint.

Results here.