November 27, 2016 (Ruka, Finland) – Alex Harvey put in a solid day at the office claiming 11th in the men’s 15km CL individual start as Finland’s Iivo Niskanen proved he is in top form taking thrilling victory at home. Norway’s Emil Iversen was second at 10.2 seconds behind, while Martin Johnsrud Sundby finished in third at 11 seconds off the lead pace.

“I think the cold weather and first day of racing just sucked a lot more energy out of me than expected. I had really heavy legs this morning so I tried to jump-start the engine a little bit with a longer jog than normal,” said Harvey, 28. “It is tough when you wake up and you know you don’t have it, but there are days I have woken up like this and finished on the podium too. I just adjusted my morning routine, made sure to break into a good sweat and get the engine a little more warmed up than usual.”

Niskanen recorded his second career World Cup victory on the same trails where he won his first World Cup two seasons ago. “I have always been good in Ruka. The track is perfect for me. I was lucky I could ski behind Niklas Dyrhaug. In the last lap I skied really hard. It was very difficult for me last season. I am very glad I could show my capacity in front of the home crowd,” commented the winner.

Canada’s Devon Kershaw, who has been showing strong form in his World Cup tune-up races, also put down a solid performance on Sunday. The Sudbury, Ont. resident finished just outside the points, in 33rd place, with a time of 36:51.0.

“The race wasn’t great, but not bad either. It was just a solid effort to start the distance season,” said Kershaw, who added he expects to be in the top-15 to 20 in every distance race so was expecting a bit more today. “I feel like the body is reacting decently, but I am obviously missing that top gear required to be where I want to be.”

The USA’s Erik Bjornsen finished in 41st but was not expecting great results at Ruka having suffered a bad rollerski crash at Soldier Hollow which left his tail end and hand “in a bad spot.”

“I only did one day of classic skiing in the 30 days leading up to coming over here. My goal coming into this weekend was to not get to hung up on the results. Lillehammer has always been a good venue for me so I was trying to think of Ruka as a warm-up into the season. These were my first races on snow this season,” Bjornsen told Trax.

Harvey’s comfort level increased throughout the race on Sunday. He completed the first lap in 16th spot, and slowly edged closer to finishing in the elite group of 10 – missing the mark by just two seconds.

“The goal was to be in that group with the top-10, or close to it, so I was right on target today,” said Harvey, who hails from St-Férréol-les-Neiges, Que. “Individual starts are difficult because you have to start at a pace that feels hard, but you know you need to hold it for 35 minutes, and you are battling against yourself which is really different than a mass start. They (individual starts) have grown on me. I’ve never been close to a podium in an individual start until last year so I’m feeling much more comfortable with them.”

Experience paid off for the 28-year-old veteran of the Canadian squad who was able to shake off the rust and grind out a strong effort over the three loops on the five-kilometre, well-balanced classic-skiing course that tests the world’s best with three long, steep hills.

“The splits from both coaches Louis (Bouchard) and Ivan (Babikov) today were really important,” added Harvey. “Sometimes you get splits and you can’t do anything about it, but I knew I was within reach, and I felt better and better throughout the race. I think the critical part on every lap was the flat sections at the top of two of the hills. I was able to gain a couple of seconds on the field there where many can’t accelerate. The course today is a great measuring stick of where everyone’s fitness is at. I’m really happy with where I’m at.”

Graeme Killick placed 53rd while the USA’s Noah Hoffman was 64th with Len Valjas 76th and Jesse Cockney in 78th. Knute Johnsgaard, of Whitehorse, was 85th while Andy Shields, of Thunder Bay, Ont., rounded out the Canadian contingent in 91st.

The World Cup now travels to Lillehammer, Norway for a mini-tour next weekend where – next to this weekend’s test in Finland – athletes will be faced with one of the toughest courses in the world. Harvey heads to Norway sitting in 15th spot overall on the World Cup after the opening weekend.

Full results here.