January 21, 2017 (Ulricehamn, Sweden) – Canadian Alex Harvey, 26, put the hammer down for his second consecutive World Cup victory winning the men’s 15km FR individual start at the new venue in Ulricehamn, Sweden on Saturday. Last weekend he and Lenny Valjas won Team Sprint gold in Toblach, Italy.

“It does feel great to win again today,” said Harvey, who won his first individual race since the World Cup Finals in 2014. “Everything was clicking today. This is a new place for us, but the course was really good and suited my abilities. I was in it from the beginning and felt good the whole way today.”

The win was historic as he became the first Canadian cross-country skier to claim back-to-back gold medals in consecutive weekends on the World Cup. Legendary Beckie Scott also won in back-to-back races during her memorable 2005-06 run, but not on consecutive weekends according to Cross Country Canada.

“We’ve had a lot great champions in Canada. It is nice to be able to own a statistic like that, but I do it for the result and to be the best I can be each race,” said Harvey. “If that means that I win back-to-back then that is a bonus.”

Harvey was joined on the podium by Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby, who finished six seconds back while Sweden’s Marcus Hellner won a tight race for the bronze.

“The plan was to start fast and be in the hunt. Sometimes when I start fast I can’t handle the pace, but I was in the top-five for the first three kilometres. When I got the splits that I was leading midway, I knew I could push to the end,” said Harvey. “There was one really long steep hill which is not my normally my strength, but the rest of the course was a lot of fun. You had to be proactive and always working and pushing the entire way.”

The USA’s Erik Bjornsen had a good day finishing 28th while Canada’s Valjas was 35th with teammate Devon Kershaw in 38th. American Noah Hoffman was 41st, Simi Hamilton was 53rd and Matt Gelso was 68th.

It was the 20th World Cup medal, and sixth victory for Harvey to go along with his four World Championship podiums. Saturday’s win marked the first time he has ever won a 15-kilometre skate-ski race in his nine-year career.

“Individual starts have been harder for me in the past. It gives me a lot of satisfaction and confidence to know that I can be in the hunt in all race disciplines,” said Harvey, who edged closer to third, but remains in fourth place in the overall World Cup standings “I really believe I can be on the podium every time I race and that’s important. When you don’t throw all your eggs in one basket in one discipline like a sprint race, it takes the pressure away of having to perform on one single day. I’m fortunate to have been born with that ability to race in sprints or distances and in classic and skate-skiing, but I’m also working really hard for it as well, and that feels great to see it pay off.”

The World Cup continues on Sunday in Sweden with the relay events.

Results here.