March 05, 2016 (Quebec City, Que.) – In a down-to-the-wire finish Canada’s Alex Harvey put on quite a show winning silver in the 1.7km Freestyle Sprint World Cup in Quebec City becoming the first Canadian male to reach the podium on home soil. Fans swarmed their native son at the finish as Harvey now moves into 4th place overall in the Ski Tour Canada rankings at 1:56 back of Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov.

France’s Baptiste Gros took the gold with a massive finishing lane charge, making history as the first Frenchman to win a sprint World Cup including a first for Gros as well. Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov took third to maintain his lead in the overall men’s rankings at the Tour.

“Every time I went to the start line, the crowd got louder and louder and it really gave me wings; I was pretty much floating on the snow,” said Harvey at the finish.

After qualifying 12th, the Saint Ferreol les Neiges, Que. executed smart tactics throughout his quarter and semifinals to handily make the finals for the first time this season. As the only North American the pressure was on and Harvey delivered.

His father the legendary Pierre Harvey, of World Cup fame, had similar things to say, “It was basically like a dream of Alex’s, to race this fast in front of his friends and family at home, here in Quebec City.”

The top American speed king, Simi Hamilton, who finished a solid 8th place after placing 4th in his semifinal. Hamilton, feeling the effects of his Gatineau sprint effort had a tough day in Montreal telling media, “Obviously didn’t go as well as the other day [Gatineau], definitely wasn’t feeling the same energy. I’m having a tough time recovering this week of racing, I think because of the travel. I know everyone is going through that but for some reason I haven’t been sleeping too well.”

Also delivering in spades for local fans was Canadian Jesse Cockney who qualified 29th and skied his way up to 10th place, his second best career result. Cockney took advantage of a crash that saw American Andy Newell go down hard as Italian front runner, Federico Pellegrino, collided with Newell and went down as well. Cockney battled it out with Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave to move on to the semifinals.

Cockney finished 5th in his semifinal and ended with a strong top-10 result expressing, “Man, I have had a really hard go of it this year so this is a big lift for me, it was really nice to have a two-heat day today.” When asked about the crowd he commented, “Man, the crowd was loud, I was really appreciative of that, it’s really cool to have races like this in Canada.”

Newell, finished 29th and expressed his disappointment in his day saying, “I felt like I skied a perfect heat, it was a pretty technical race. I was right where I needed to be and I went to slingshot past Baptiste [Gros] to try and take the lead. We must have started skating at the same time and we totally hammered boots and skis and I went down super hard. It’s pretty disappointing, I was in a perfect position, feeling good.”

His teammate Erik Bjornsen finished 4th in his quarter final heat, to land him in 20th place, an improvement from his Gatineau finish of 25th. It was only his second time to make the heats saying, “I wish I was a little stronger so I could surge in some places and get into the semi-final but right now I’m just happy to be in the heats, mixing it up.”

Many fans wondered what happened between Bjornsen and Young (GBR) as both of them were visibly angry at each other in the finish zone with Bjornsen giving the Brit a shove.

“Ah, I think everyone was just trying to get in the best position and we were both a little angry at the end not to be in it, but I talked to him at the end and everything’s cool,” explained Bjornsen.

Canada’s Len Valjas, who has been fighting a lung infection since Falun (SWE), said he was disappointed in missing the heats in 38th adding, “It was still a great day, they set up the course so well and the weather and fans were amazing.”

Fellow Canuck Devon Kershaw broke a pole on the first hill leading out of the stadium, and had trouble recovering lost time as he crossed the line in 53rd position. Kershaw expressed frustration, saying his body felt good on course but did not have luck on his side.

Gros was especially appreciative of the course and the organization here in Quebec City telling media. “In Europe we do not often get to race on “true snow” as we did today and I am a big fan of this change, it is always nice to have something new on the World Cup.”

Ustiugov showed his power all day, easily winning his quarter and semi-finals using his trademark slow start and powerful climbing to blow away his competition. In the final, Ustiugov looked to be in control going into the final uphill but was out-muscled by Gros and Harvey in the final sprint .

Ustiugov, the current Tour leader, has been very impressive in the final weeks of the season and Cockney told us, “If you remember the movie Space Jam, Ustiugov is like one of the Mon-Stars – when he wants to go, he can go.”

When asked about how he has been able to remain so strong throughout the final part of the season, Ustiugov responded simply “I have good coaches”.

Although he failed to make it past the quarter-finals after crashing in Andy Newell who went down in front of him, Italy’s Pellegrino still secured the Crystal Globe as the overall Sprint World Cup leader. Congratulazioni Chiccopelle!

Action resumes on Saturday with a 15k skate pursuit races as Harvey hopes to make up time on the 3rd placed skier, Emil Iversen (NOR) and Ustiugov will lead the pack  around Quebec City.

Results here.