January 06, 2018 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – Canadian Alex Harvey, 29, stormed to his first podium of the season claiming a brilliant bronze in the men’s 15km CL mass start race won by Alexey Poltoranin on Stage 6, the penultimate stage of the Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

In the final straight away sprint to the finish Russia’s Andrey Larkov was on Poltoranin’s heels to claim second with Harvey taking third for his eighth career podium on the Tour.

“This was a good result, especially in classic. It is my first podium in classic-skiing since the World Championships in 2015, and to do it on a really hard course here is really good,” said Harvey.

The Canuck was at the front of a large pack for the first 10km and then broke away with a group of five in the fifth of six laps. In the final 2.5-kilometre loop, the lone Canadian in the field was in a group of four left at the front to battle it out for the podium.

“I knew some guys were struggling so I was really trying to lead the pace today. I was feeling good and I took my responsibility because I really wanted to make it hard and keep the speed high in the front for some of those guys struggling,” explained Harvey.

“I was taking my pulls at the front. It was hard on me today, but I knew it was hard on everybody else. When we had a bit of a break, I wanted to make sure we kept going. Dario (Cologna) and I did a lot of the work. He was fourth in the sprint finish so maybe we used up a bit of energy but we were able to separate ourselves (from some of the top guys in the overall).”

The King and Queen of cross-country skiing will be determined on Sunday in a nine-kilometre skate-ski pursuit race with the final 425-metres straight up Alpe Cermis – an alpine ski hill. Harvey remains in fourth place heading into the final stage. His best finish on the prestigious Nordic skiing event came in 2016 when he was fifth.

“The goal tomorrow will be to not work too much on the flats, but keep at it,” added Harvey. “I don’t want to save my energy as much as I can for the climb, and not get caught by the guys behind me. It’s not my best event but the guys around me are all in the same boat. We have very good support staff around me. We are a small but efficient team and I think that is a competitive advantage that we have. I just need recover well and be ready for tomorrow.”

Full results here.
Overall standings here.