January 02, 2019 (Oberstdorf, Germany) – Canadian Alex Harvey charged through heavy snow and tough wax conditions to finish 14th on Stage 4 in a gruelling men’s 15km CL mass start race won by Norway’s Emil Iversen at the Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf.

Italy’s Francesco De Fabiani was second, while Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov took home third. Ben Lustgarten was the lone American and skied in a very tight field to finish 57th, Canada’s Bob Thompson placed 64th while his teammate Len Valjas was 67th.

“It was snowing hard the whole way, so it was really hard for anyone to get away but I felt really good today,” said Harvey following the 6-lap race around a 2.5km loop, and now sits 15th in the overall. “Everyone was really skiing in one track, so the outside track was much slower which made it hard to get away or to come back. The feeling today is the best I have had in a distance race this year.”

“That’s my favourite type of racing,” he added. “There were some intermediate sprint bonus points out there today that I got as well. You always have to start the pursuits faster. Everybody is trying to catch the guys ahead of you. I will cross my fingers and hope the body will recover from the first surge and hold on. I’m hoping to get back into the top-10, top-five.”

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway continues to lead overall with Ustiugov in second at 15.4 seconds back with Iversen third at 31 seconds behind.

Results here.