(l-r) Harvey, Sundby and Vylegzhanin © Angus Cockney

March 10, 2016 (Canmore, AB) – Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR) packed a powerful punch to claim the men’s 30km Skiathlon in Canmore as Canada’s Alex Harvey grabbed a strong 7th while Ivan Babikov had his best performance in three years finishing 10th.

Alex Harvey (CAN) © Angus Cockney

Harvey moved back into 4th overall as Tour leader, Sergey Ustiugov, finished second on the day and retained his overall lead while Matti Hiekkien of Finland raced to third in the final sprint to the line by the chase group.

Ivan Babikov (CAN) © Angus Cockney

Canada’s Graham Killick had a solid day as well matching his career-best World Cup finish by skiing to 19th while veteran Devon Kershaw finished in the points in 24th despite legs cramps during the skate portion. Noah Hoffman led the U.S. men finishing 35th.

Men's Skiathlon podium © Nordic Focus

“It was a tough day especially in the skate. We were pushing hard from beginning and that’s how I wanted it,” said Harvey, who bounced back into fourth in the overall Tour standings. “I was hoping one of the guys in front of me would have a tough day and it happened to be (Emil) Iversen so it moved me up into fourth place. I think I’m too far back for the top-three, but they can always have a really bad day. My focus will be on staying in the top-five in the final two stages.”

Sundby wins © Nordic Focus

Babikov, 35, was pleased to see his old form return on home snow. “Finally! I love the pursuit races and the skiathlons. Everything just came together today. The skis and the body were both really good. I’m super happy,” said Babikov. “I know this course like the back of my hand. I train here everyday in the winter and summer so I’m super happy with the effort.”

Graeme Killick (CAN) © Angus Cockney

From the gun, a large pack formed and stayed that way for most of the classic leg. According to Michael Somppi of the National Development Centre in Thunder Bay , “the pace didn’t feel that crazy”, as the slow start seemed to play into the hands of some other domestic skiers.

(l-r) Bauer, Harvey, Sundby, Dyrhaug and Jaks © Angus Cockney

Harvey and Babikov skied in the lead pack of about 12 skiers that broke away during the skate portion. With about 5km to go Sundby made his move with an impressive surge on the second last hill where he turned the screw and broke away from the pack of chasers that scrambled for the remaining podium spots.

Devon Kershaw (CAN) © Angus Cockney

Kershaw said that he “…felt really good in the classic”, however after cramping near the start of the skate leg, it got “hard mentally” as he tried to salvage a good result.

Kevin Sandau (CAN) © Angus Cockney

Top Nor-Am skier, Kevin Sandau of the Alberta World Cup Academy, skied to 40th place after sticking in the lead pack but chose to “pull back to survive” and finish strong rather than blow up and loose time.

“It was great to see Babs rocket out there. When you see your teammate in the lead group, we definitely try to help each other and scream where to go, searching for the fast snow,” said Harvey. “That big wall on the classic was tough and on the skate the course is a steady climb the whole way. The pace made it really challenging.” Harvey recalled thinking on the second last lap that another rival, Emil Iversen, of Norway now in 5th, was bleeding time and that helped his overall standing.

Justin Wadsworth, Head Coach of the Canadian team, referred to the race as feeling “like the good ol’ days” with so many Canadians scoring World Cup points.

Erik Bjornsen (USA) © Angus Cockney

With two stages to go Ustiugov has 47.3 seconds Norway’s Petter Northug in second, while Sundby sits third 1:04.5 off the pace, followed by Harvey at 2:51 back. Babikov is 17th overall, Kershaw is 18th, Killick is 27th and Hoffman is 40th.

Richard Jouve (FRA) and Noah Hoffman (USA) © Angus Cockney

Erik Bjornsen was the second-fastest American, finishing 49th, following Hoffman. Scott Patterson was 55th, and Tad Elliott was 58th.

After a well-deserved rest day tomorrow, the action will continue for the athletes with the 7th stage being a 15km free individual start.

Results here.
Overall standings here.