January 03, 2019 (Oberstdorf, Germany) – Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo out-dueled Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov to take the win in the men’s 15km FR on Stage 5 of the FIS Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf in a battle to the finish. Alexander Bolshunov (RUS) finished third.

Klaebo takes Ustiugov © Nordic Focus

Canadian Alex Harvey raced to 22nd as all three Canucks, including Len Valjas and Bob Thompson, have decided not to start the final two stages in the 9-day Tour. The only U.S. starter was Ben Lustgarten who moved up one spot to finish 54th for the day.

Alex Harvey © Nordic Focus

“I just tried to go with the group I was in. We were making some good time on the group in front of us, and made my way into sixth place, but then got dropped midway through the fifth lap and completely died,” said Harvey, who was third overall in last year’s Tour de Ski. “I am not going to race the weekend. I have had a lot of distance races and I need to take some time to recharge.”

Results here
Overall here.