January 7, 2014 (Toblach, Italy) – Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin gambled and won choosing to go without wax on skate skis and skied to victory in the men’s 10km CL in Toblach, Italy, stage 4 of the Tour de Ski. Taking second at a mere 0.5 behind was rising Russian star, Evgeniy Belov, while third went to Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby at 4.2s behind the winner.

Poltoranin © Nordic Focus

“To double pole the whole competition was a new experience for me. I had great skis, they were very fast. I decided to go on skate skis only 10 min before the start. I have no plan for tomorrow. I am focused on classical technique competitions,” commented Poltoranin.

Canada’s Alex Harvey skied to 14th while his teammate Devon Kershaw scored points as well just out of the top 20 in in 21st position. Fellow Canuck, Ivan Babikov, was just out of the points in 32nd. The USA’s Erik Bjornsen placed 58th with teammate Simeon Hamilton 60th followed by Andy Newell in 67th.

“It was a top-15 so that is good, but not great either,” said the 26-year-old Harvey. “My first split was a little slow so I think I went a little hard in the middle of the race. I just started losing some energy later in the race.”

Final podium © Nordic Focus

Harvey is now seventh overall while Kershaw sits in 30th and Babikov is 33rd place behind race leader Petter Northug (NOR) as the Tour heads into its final weekend following tomorrow’s 35km distance race.

“My body feels good and I’m feeling confident,” said Harvey. “I just need to focus on recovery right now, and I’m looking forward to the distance race tomorrow.”

Full results here.