March 03, 2016 (Montreal, QC) – Canada’s Alex Harvey delivered another top-10 result in tough cold conditions claiming 9th in the men’s 17.5km mass start Classic race in Montreal on Stage 2 of Ski Tour Canada. His teammate Devon Kershaw placed a solid 17th as the duo led the North American men.

Norway’s Emil Iversen won a hard-fought dual over teammate Petter Northug as Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, yesterday’s sprint winner took third. Erik Bjornsen was the top US skier with another fine result just out of the points in 31st.

“It was good day. Coming in I was only nine seconds behind the leaders so I tried to go for the podium in the second lap, and I kind of blew up,” said Harvey. “I was just dead, so I drafted the whole way around and settled for a top-10.”

Harvey moved up close to Norwegian superstar Northug after the start who seemed worried about the Canadian. Near the end of the first 3.5-kilometre lap Russia’s Ustiugov and two Norwegians, Northug and Iversen, broke away from the field. Harvey was not able to keep pace and tucked into a chase group that included overall World Cup leader, Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR).

The man in blue, Ustiugov, stayed in the lead for much of the race and picked up valuable bonus points doing so. The two Norwegians attacked at about the 16km mark, demonstrating remarkable double-poling as Ustiugov hung on but seemed to be hurting. Iversen crossed the finish first at 45:05.4, followed closely by Northug. The Russian collapsed after crossing the line in third.

Ustiugov was still lying on the snow when Harvey, wearing bib #10, crossed the finish in 9th place, clocking 46:21.8. “It was tricky out there today. It was quite cold, and the snow was soft on the corners. I have to be happy. I was able to move from 10th to sixth in the overall so I am happy with where my position is,” added Harvey, who hails from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, QC.

Not far behind was his teammate Kershaw who commented, “Finishing in 17th place is not something we are going to be lighting fireworks off for, but at the same time it is a step in the right direction. The conditions were the toughest thing today no question. It was windy and really soft snow, but to race in front of my friends and family here in Montreal, and have them calling my name for encouragement, is a pretty neat feeling.”

Kershaw was followed by fellow Canuck Ivan Babikov in 29th place. Bjornsen who dabbled in the top 25 until 10.5km, found himself in a battle to the line with Austria’s Dominik Baldauf who out-lunged him at the line to steal 30th by just 0.4 seconds. The USA’s Noah Hoffman was the next best American in 42nd place.

“It was very icy on the curves; we were just trying to stay on our feet,” said USA skier Eric Packer who finished 67th. “There were a lot of broken poles out there. I was very lucky didn,t break any skis or any poles, but there were definitely people out there breaking equipment. Today went well; I had a rough race yesterday so today was an improvement.”

Coaches were lining the race circuit, holding bundles of spare poles for their skiers. The race presented by Quebecor on the flanks of Mount Royal started and finished near Montreal’s George-Étienne Cartier monument on Park Ave., the oldest skiing site in Canada dating back to 1879, in the heart of Quebec’s largest city.

This may have been the first cross-country ski FIS World Cup on Mount Royal, but in 1974, there was a cycling UCI World Cup held here and won by Eddy “the Cannibal” Merckx. Another bicycling connection is through Alex Harvey’s dad, Pierre, a former Olympic cross-country skier and cyclist. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, he raced up Mount Royal on a bicycle, finishing 24th in his race. Pierre Harvey was there on Mar. 2, cheering for his son.

Ustiugov leads overall standings while Harvey now sits in sixth position overall; everyone else in the top 10 is either Norwegian or Russian. Devon Kershaw is 17th and Erik Bjornsen is 28th after Stage 2.

Results here.

Overall standings after Stage 2 here.