March 23, 2019 (Quebec City, QC) – Canada’s Alex Harvey pulled out all the stops to capture an emotional silver in the men’s 15km CL mass start on home snow in Quebec City.

“This is incredible. It makes for a great swan song. I can’t believe it,” said Harvey breaking into tears. “It is pretty special to be able to give back to everyone who has supported me, and the wax techs today. I don’t remember being this emotional about a podium. The scenario is different than in 2017. I had won then, but I was World Champion and was finishing third overall for the season.”

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (Nor) took the win with Norway’s Didrik Toenseth claiming the bronze. Alexander Bolshunov (Rus) finished 7th after breaking a pole near the end.

The top American, Erik Bjornsen, who was leading the race for a short time, finished 18th on the day. “I am happy with my result,” said Erik Bjornsen. “It was fun today, it may have been the first time I was leading a World Cup. I found a gap and just went for it and it felt easy to be in the lead for a bit.”

With tens of thousands of passionate Nordic fans from across Canada flocking to Quebec City’s historic battle field to chant his name Harvey delivered. “Watching the girls’ race on television, I knew there were lots of falls and I needed to stay at the front of the pack,” added Harvey. “In the middle of the race Pellegrino almost pushed me into a tree and Klaebo fell in front of me. I was lucky enough to stay on my feet, avoid the carnage and not break any equipment. I stayed aggressive, even if the 15 kilometres is a shorter distance for the guys.”

Spurred on by the boisterous Canadian crowd while skiing in a pack of five around the final loop, it became a battle between four athletes when Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov broke a pole hammering up a hill with two kilometres to go.

Drafting behind the leaders who were taking on the headwind in the final descent into the stadium, Harvey made his move circling back down the finish stretch where he double-poled to a stellar second-place finish.

“The crowd allowed me to reach the podium today. It was insane how loud they were. This is their medal today not mine,” Harvey concluded. “I knew I needed my best race of the year to be on the podium and I did that today. It is unreal and pretty special.”

Results here