January 22, 2012 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Canada’s Alex Harvey said he was hungrier after finishing 12th at the Tour de Ski. It seems he arrived at Otepaa, Estonia with an appetite as he placed just off the podium in 4th in the men’s 1.4km classic sprint won by Tour de Ski winner Dario Cologna (SUI). The USA’s Newell also skied well and ended up 7th on the day.

It was Harvey’s best-ever classic-ski sprint result as the 23-year-old qualified fifth and then raced smart and smooth through his quarter final and semi final rounds winning both heats to advance to the final. Most skiers including Harvey raced on skate skis electing to double pole up the climbs.

“I wasn’t sure how the body was going to respond today being my first race back, but I felt really good and in control,” said the St-Ferréol-les-Neiges,Que. Native in a team release. “Getting away from skiing last week was really good for my body and head. I was really tired, but was able to just relax and lay on the beach. Overall I’m really happy with today and felt great.”

Harvey attacked both times on the final big hill to set himself up for the long finishing straight but this didn’t work as well in the final as Cologna was leading and two Norwegians, Ola Vigen Hattestad and Eirik Brandsdal, were shadowing Harvey and edged him off the podium to claim second and third respectively.

“That was a close one today,” said Harvey, who won his lone sprint medal last year in Drammen, Norway when he was second in the skate-ski race. “Fourth is awesome, but it is a little heartbreaking too. Devon [Kershaw] was fourth at the Tour, and we’ve been fourth at the Olympics. It is a little tough to take, but I have to be happy today.”

For the USA’s Newell it was a good day at the office. We caught up with the American speed king post-race for his impressions on the day and his performance. “The conditions today were just perfect bomber classic tracks, which makes it unfortunate that we don’t stride more, but the way the course is set up with the long 300+ meter finish sometimes skate skis are hard to pass up. I decided to go on classic skis in the qualification but switched over to double poling for the heats.”

Newell raced his quarter final to perfection emerging at the front near the end to place a solid second and advanced to the semis. Unfortunately he lost momentum during his semi when two Russian skiers near him collided and went down… but that wasn’t the whole story.

“With the long finish you can really afford to chill in the pack on this course and wait to attack which is what I tried to do in both my heats. In the quaterfinals there was a good mix of striders and D-polers in my heat so I was able to get a good lead-out into the last flat section of the course.

“I tried to do the same in the semi finals but as I moved to the front of the pack I just got snagged a little bit by a crash to my left. It did kill my speed a little but the main problem was that my ski was actually poled through – literally through the entire ski – somehow the sidewall also got shredded by the crashing skiers.

“So, with a hole and a 5-inch long piece of base hanging off my ski, that made it really hard to catch back up. It was so slow I actually thought my ski was broken – weird. I’ve never had that happen before. But either way it was still a much cleaner trouble-free day than what I’ve been having so I can’t complain. Feels good to be back to placing where I should have been during the first part of the season.”

Kershaw also fell victim to equipment failure suffering a broken pole in the qualification and did not advance. It was the Canadian team’s first race back after the Tour de Ski since taking last week off to rest in the Canary Islands.

For Toronto’s Len Valjas, who qualified in 15th, it was a special day to be back in his homeland. Valjas was matched up alongside Harvey in the quarter-finals and for a short time the duo dominated the race but the young Canuck could not find the legs today and did not move on, finishing 21st.

“It’s great to be back in Estonia,” Valjas told SkiTrax. “I was really excited to race a classic sprint this weekend. When we all decided that it would be faster to double pole the course I wasn’t too pumped. I was really hoping it would be a striding race. My qualy went ok, but my arms were pretty fried by the end of it. While warming up for my heats I could feel that my arms were still a bit sore from the morning’s effort.

“In my quarter final I skied well tactically and came into the final straight side by side with Alex in 1st. That’s when it all fell apart. My arms felt like they were on fire. I was totally done. I fought hard to the finish but lost a few spots on the long 250-meter straight.
I have to do some more DP intensities to get ready for the next double pole sprint in Drammen later this winter.”

According to Chris Dornan, CCC Media and Public Relations, Harvey’s fourth-place finish continues a historic streak for the Canucks who have combined to place one athlete in the top-five in every World Cup stop this season, including the overall at the Tour de Ski.

“This demonstrates the consistency and high level this team is at each day,” said the team’s head coach, Justin Wadsworth. “Today Devon broke a pole, but Alex was in a fight for the podium. To have somebody in the hunt for the medals each week is the key to winning and shows the depth of the team and program we are creating in Canada. This is a goal of ours and we are looking to continue this trend throughout the year.”

Men’s Qualifications HERE.
Men’s Final HERE.