January 05, 2012 (Toblach, Italy) – Check out our additional athlete quotes and photos from today’s Stage 7 of the Tour de Ski. It was a great day for the North Americans, overall, with Canada’s Devon Kershaw and the USA’s Kikkan Randall remaining within striking distance of the overall podium, sitting in 4th and 5th in their respective races. Alex Harvey had a solid race and sits in 9th overall in the men’s race.

The USA’s Kris Freeman and Liz Stephen moved up the overall standings today, skiing into 29th and 34th place, respectively. Teammate Holly Brooks and Ivan Babikov of Canada, meanwhile, are hanging in there despite wrist injuries, with Brooks in 46th and Babikov in 35th place overall, respectively.

Devon Kershaw on his 4th place finish in today’s 32km skate pursuit race:
Probably the best skate race I have ever had. I started controlled and the body felt amazing. I worked very, very well with Marcus Hellner and Maurice Manificat. They worked a little harder on the uphill, but on the downhill it was all Hellner and I and I charged for 16 kilomtres so I didn’t have very much at the end. I felt really good and I’m just really happy the body was there.

Alex Harvey on holding his 9th overall position today:
My calves were really tense, and the backs of my legs and hamstrings were super tight early in the race, said Harvey. I felt really good in the final four kilometres where I got a lot of time back on the leaders, but I’m disappointed.

Ivan Babikov on climbing up to 35th position overall:
I’m happy that I got some time on the leaders and got a little closer to the top 20. It wasn’t the best skate race for me, but I am satisfied. The wrist is feeling better every day and I hope to race 100 per cent this weekend.

Kikkan Randall on her strategy for the day and on battling for 5th place:
My plan today was to start off aggressive and make those girls work to catch me.  If they did catch me, I planned to latch on to their pace and try to be strong in the last few kms. When Lahteemaki caught me around 7km, I couldn’t quite stay on her. But I was able to latch on to Kalla and once I caught on to her rhythm I started feeling better and better.  Kristopherson and Flugstag were really crankin’ and caught us going into the final lap. I got right on their train and followed their tempo.’

As we neared the top of the course I decided to try and go after Lahteemaki and took the lead of our train. I think we dropped Flugstad. In the last 2km, the three of us were really flying and pulling seconds back. We all came off the last turn together and had a great battle to the finish for 5th.

Skis were great. Body was pretty good too, especially over the 2nd half. I think I was a little stiff and tight at the beginning. I was pretty sure I would be loosing some more time to the leaders today. I was more focused on my battle with the skiers right around me as we fought for places in the top 10.

Two very important races coming up now after the rest day.  I think my energy is still good, just need to dig down and be gritty now!’

Liz Stephen who is flirting with a top 30 overall:
My body had really been feeling beat down and extremely tired the two stages prior to today, so I went into today with the knowledge that I had fueled, rested and done everything I could to be ready for today’s stage, but that my body may not be ready to show up. My warm-up felt really bad, everything was tired, but I was staying positive with the thought of being in a mass start with people all around to help carry me around the course if I wasn’t feeling great.

However, I was pleasantly surprised once the race started as I had really good energy out there, so I went with it. The pack I was skiing in was really tough to get out of. I felt like I could spend as much energy as I wanted trying to pass and literally get nowhere. So after doing this for two laps, I decided to relax a bit and just hang tight for the last lap.

The skis were a bit tough today, but what I wanted most of all today was to have great energy, and I did. So I am going into the last two stages of the Tour with good confidence again. Anna Haag, my good friend and training buddy from Sweden was in the pack with me, so it was really fun to ski with her today.

Simi Hamilton on his withdrawal from the Tour due to illness
I withdrew from the tour yesterday because I’ve been fighting a stomach bug for the last three days. I started feeling really uncomfortable and cramped up after the classic sprint qualifier and the pain/symptoms got progressively worse until I started throwing up everything I had in me yesterday morning before the 5km. I’m just now able to start holding some food down again after a rough day yesterday and last night.

I debated trying to walk around the 5km yesterday so that I could at least start the skate sprint today, but in the state I was in mid-day yesterday, I could barely stand up out of bed.

I’m a little bummed out for sure, especially with the state of my health in November, but I’m really focusing on getting totally healthy for the Milan weekend. I think that could be a good weekend of races for me and I’m really psyched.

Overall impressions of the Tour: it’s a really, really cool event that demands a lot of everyone… coaches, athletes, techs, organizers. I’m already doing some reflecting on how I can come into the event next year better prepared. I wish that I had gotten a crack at the skate sprint – my current forte – but I think it’s important to move beyond that and look at the positives of the week. For example, I know going into next year that I need to spend more time training in totally crappy, rainy conditions.