November 24, 2018 (Ruka, Finland) – Canada’s Alex Harvey began his 10th World Cup season with a personal best 8-place finish in the men’s 1.4km CL Sprint as Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov topped Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo in the final for the win.

Eirik Brandsdal (Nor) grabbed the final step on the men’s podium in third as the season got underway under the lights at the opening round of the 2019 FIS World Cup Cross-Country Ski series in Ruka, Finland.

Harvey squeaked into the head-to-head heats with the top 30 athletes of the day after posting the 25th fastest qualifying time. In his quarter-final he crossed the line in second spot advancing to the semis.

“I’m now 30 years old and I have the same excitement for the first race of the season as I did the first time I hit the start line on the World Cup,” said Harvey. “The steep hill on this course is the key. I’ve never been the snappiest on the hills, so I was happy with the effort and the result.”

Skiing in fifth spot for most of his semi a late charge allowed him to grab one more spot, but it wasn’t enough to advance. The final saw Klaebo leading but the Norwegian let up in the final metres as it seemed he thought the win was his, but Bolshunov passed him with 20m to go for the victory.

“It’s nice to win but there’s a lot more racing to come,” said Bolshunov at the post-race press conference. “[Johannes] Klaebo was my toughest rival today and tomorrow it will be the same.”

Erik Bjornsen (USA) was 42nd, Kevin Bolger (USA) finished 55th, Canadian Julien Locke placed 69th, Andy Shields was 75th, Russell Kennedy placed 76th, David Norris (USA) was 78th and Simi Hamilton (USA) finished 83rd.

“In the sprint you always have to be aggressive and have positive thoughts. That is hard to do when it is dark outside. It is easy to start feeling tired,” added Harvey. “I drank lots of coffee today and tried to stay energized to fight the darkness.”

Results here.