February 29, 2016 (Gatineau, Quebec) – With Ski Tour Canada 2016 on the doorstep, excitement levels are high among athletes and fans alike as the opening press conference featured top skiers Federico Pellegrino (ITA), Maurice Magnificat (FRA), Stina Nilsson (SWE), Jessie Diggins (USA) and Patrick Stewart (CAN). Top Canadian, Alex Harvey, chatted with media in the Mixed Zone at Jacques-Cartier Park.

The 8-race Tour kicks off on March 1 at Jacques Cartier Parc in Gatineau, Quebec, with the freestyle sprints. The venue sits on the Ottawa river, and offers scenic views of Canada’s Parliament. Athletes fully utilized Sunday’s training day and skied many laps of the 850m course, where they will complete two laps at the World Cup 1.7km freestyle sprint on Mar.1.

The course is mainly flat, but features one major climb halfway through that the athletes will tackle twice. Though the hill is steep, it will probably not prove to be decisive until the second lap when athletes will be fighting for position going into the finish. The downhill that follows is composed of two quick right hand turns that take competitors into the slightly uphill finishing chute where fans are sure to see showdowns between the likes of Italy’s Pellegrino vs Norwegian speed kings Finn Hagen Krogh, Petter Northug Jr. and hopefully their favourite North American contenders.

On hand for the press conference was American star Diggins, who has dual citizenship and was excited to race in Canada saying, “Anytime that my parents can come watch me race is so exciting, because normally I am in Europe and they have to wake up at 5am to see me competing.” She added that being a dual citizen to Canada made the Tour extra special.

This sentiment was echoed by local racer, Patrick Stewart-Jones, who grew up just minutes from the venue in Chelsea, Quebec telling media, “It’s pretty crazy for me, I went to high school a kilometre away from here, grew up skiing in the park… having seen photos on Facebook of these high-end skiers skiing at Nakkertok, my home club, gets me pretty excited about the Tour.”

With several World Cups in both Canada and Europe under his belt, Stewart-Jones explained his goals for the Tour as “…competing as hard as I can each day, try my hardest, and leave each race and be able to say I pushed as hard as I could.” He added that “a top-30 would be an ideal outcome.”

Canada’s Harvey expressed his excitement commenting, “We’ve been talking about this event for a long time now, and we’re really excited to showcase our sport to all Canadians across the country and show that it can be done in urban centres like here (Gatineau), Montreal, and Quebec City.”

Harvey said the Canadian team is feeling 100% after skipping the Lahti World Cup, adding that the team was happy to be back from Europe for almost an entire month earlier than they are used to prepare for the Tour.

“I think a podium is realistic tomorrow, sprinting has proven tough this year but the shape has been feeling better and better, and we’ve prepared really specifically for this event,” added Harvey.

Action kicks off with the Sprint FR qualifications at 11:15 EST followed by the heats at 13:45 EST