December 17, 2016 (La Clusaz, FRA) – Canada’s Alex Harvey was a strong 7th in the men’s 15km FR in La Clusaz but a fateful crash took him out of the mix for the podium as Norway’s Finn Haagen Krogh made a late charge for the finish line, edging out his teammate Martin Johnsrud Sundby at the line. Russia’s Alexander Legkov snagged the bronze medal.

The USA’s Eric Bjornsen scored his first skate distance points with a solid 20th-place finish – a career-best result for him. His teammate Noah Hoffman was 49th still feeling the impact of illness. Harvey’s 7th is his best early season result on the World Cup

“Really disappointed, the guys gave me great skis,” said Harvey post race. “I had a good body but fell at the end of the 3rd lap and dropped to 26th. I made it back to the group but the top 4 were gone.”

Skiing at the top of the pack in fifth place on the third of eight laps, Harvey crashed and dropped way back into 26th spot on the narrow 2km loop made entirely from man-made snow.

“There is no snow at all in Europe so they actually cut blocks of ice from a lake to create a base on the track and put snow on it so the corners were icy. We are used to that, but I just lost my focus for a bit and crashed on my own,” said the 28-year-old who has consistently been in the top-10 this year.

“The hardest lap was the one right after. When you crash you are super tense, but I was able to recover and get back into relaxed mode. The course was super narrow so it was hard to pass. I slowly made my way up to the front. I felt really good, but I think it was a missed opportunity today.”

Knute Johnsgaard was the only other Canadian to finish placing 63rd. Devon Kershaw pulled out mid-race with illness while Andy Shields was lapped.

Full results here.