March 02, 2014 (Lahti, Finland) – Canada’s Alex Harvey was a solid 8th in the men’s 15km FR World Cup interval start at the Lahti Ski Games in Finland on Sunday as Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR) took the win and extended his overall World Cup lead. Sweden’s Daniel Richardsson claimed second at 10.7s behind while Olympic 50-km champ Alexander Legkov (RUS) was third at 11.2s behind.

Alex Harvey (CAN) © Nordic Focus file photo

“I wasn’t expecting much because the course has lots of steep uphills and it was skating so it isn’t the course that suits me best,” said Harvey. “I am happy with the way I skied. I have been physically really tired after the Olympics and the travel. But the shape is still there and I just wanted to come here and restart the machine so to have two really good results is a bonus.”

Daniel Rickardsson (SWE) © Nordic Focus

Sundby led at all time checks and stayed strong to the finish. Legkov skied in second at all time checks and Richardsson was third, but at the finish they traded places by a mere 0.5 seconds with Richardsson taking second place.

Hofer (ITA) follows Sundby (NOR) © Nordic Focus

The top US skier was Noah Hoffman in 24th followed by Canada’s Ivan Babikov in 29th, Graham Nishikawa (Can) in 41st, fellow Canuck Devon Kershaw in 43rd, Erik Bjornsen (USA) in 51st, Michael Somppi (Can) in 58th, Reese Hanneman (USA) in 73rd,  Sylvan Ellefson (USA) 79th, Kevin Sandau 80th with Raphael Couturier in 85th.

Final podium (l-r) Rickardsson 2nd, Sundby 1st, Legkov 3rd © Nordic Focus

Sitting sixth overall on the World Cup standings, Harvey is focused on a solid finish to a bittersweet season. “We obviously didn’t meet our expectations at the Olympics, but there are still a lot of things to be happy about this year. I’m still fighting for good position on the World Cup so mentally I was really looking forward to this weekend and I really want to finish the season strong,” added Harvey.

Harvey Post-race Interview

Results here.