December 30, 2012 (Oberhof, Germany) – It was another strong day for maple leaf fans as Canada’s Alex Harvey cruised with the leaders to the end taking 5th in the men’s 15km CL – his best finish this season – behind Russia’s dynamic duo, Maxim Vlegzhanin and Alexander Legkov, who charged to the finishline ending up in a photo-finish sprint with Vlegzhanin declared the winner. Norwegian star Petter Northug finished third with defending champ Dario Cologna (SUI) 4th.

Northug was the lead off skier with an 11s-margin on Marcus Hellner (SWE) as a group of eight skiers caught the Norwegian during the first lap of four with a large chase group at 10s. As the Russians pushed the pace Hellner was suffering and faded getting swallowed up by the chasers during the second lap. At 6.7km Legkov took over while Canada’s Ivan Babikov (started 32nd) and Devon Kershaw (started 48th) were moving up the ranks were now in the 20s.

By the third lap Finland’s Matti Heikkinen had moved to the front to show his cards, but at 9.7km Vlegzhanin and the Russians were back driving the bus as Lukas Bauer (CZE) lead the chase behind. Then Heikkinen wobbled and went down almost taking Harvey with him but the Canadian reacted fast as the Finn now had to work hard to catch back on.

As the finish approached Vlegzhanin and Legkov put more pressure on as Harvey moved into third with only Cologna and Northug able to keep pace. In the push to the finish Harvey couldn’t hold off his rivals but was satisfied with his best result so far this season.

“I was going for the podium but just didn’t find the top gear needed at the end. But I’m happy to have raced well and see my form continuing to improve so the upcoming races should be fun,” Harvey told Trax.

Babikov continue his strong season finishing 19th followed by Kershaw in 27th. “It’s a terrible start to the season,” said Kershaw. “But I’m taking each day as it comes and trying to improve and get back to where I want to be.” Len Valjas, more known for his sprinting, had a decent run finishing 33rd just out of the points (he started in 52nd).

The top American on the day was Kris Freeman in 58th who crashed hard and has a stiff shoulder but looks like he’ll be ok following the upcoming rest day. Noah Hoffman made a solid improvement as well moving up from 94th to finish 69th.

Both teams are on their way to Val Müstair, Switzerland, a new venue for the Tour, for the 1.4/1.4km FR Sprints on January 1st.

Full results HERE.