December 31, 2016 (Val Mustair, Switzerland) – Canada’s Alex Harvey skied to a solid 6th-place finish in the men’s 1.5km skate Sprint won by Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov at the Tour de Ski Stage 1 in Val Mustair, Switzerland on Saturday.

Italy’s Federico Pellegrino finished second in the lone sprint race slated for the 2017 Tour while Norway’s Finn Haagen Krogh rounded out the men’s podium in third.

Top North American qualifier Simi Hamilton in 14th ended up 18th as drew the same quarter final as Harvey which the Canadian won. Fellow Canuck Len Valjas qualified 21st but finished 3rd in his quarter final and did not advance as a luck loser.

“I’m really happy with the result and had some good bonus times today as well,” said Harvey, who remained in Davos, Switzerland to train over the holiday break. “I didn’t feel so good today. I had really heavy legs so I was really happy to be able to convert a bad day into a good result.”

“The final it was hard from the gun similar to my qualifier, and the guys were just too fast. It is a long Tour. The goal is to always to stay in the top-10 if you want to finish near the top in the overall so I’m really happy with the start.”

Valjas, 28, who ended up 16th was happy with his day as well. “The course was in perfect shape. Nice firm cold snow and even the tough corners held up well all day. My qualifier went well, I thought hard even though I felt a little bit flat. I think it’s just been a long time between races for me (Davos sprint was my last).

“I took a risk when choosing a fast 1/4 final with Finn and Sundby, and unfortunately couldn’t beat them to the line and my time was just a little too slow to move on. I am healthy now, over Christmas I suffered a cold, but luckily I barely kept it from spreading to my lungs. I’m looking forward to a couple more Tour stages and then getting ready for the Toblach sprint,” commented Valjas.

Hamilton and Harvey were in the same 1/4 final and the American described his day.

“Conditions here in Val Mustair are great right now. We are racing entirely on man-made snow, but it’s firm and fast and the weather has been incredible,” said Hamilton. “The sprint course is one of the harder sprint courses we see on the World Cup circuit.”

“I wasn’t entirely sure how my body would respond after having taken so much time off in December trying to recover from the virus that took out our entire team, but I was happy with how I felt today. Unfortunately, I hesitated to make a move when the door opened up for me, and I found myself stuck at the back of the pack. Still, I’m encouraged with how the day went considering how up and down my training has been since getting to Europe, and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season ahead,” commented Hamilton.

Qualifications here.
Results here.