Canada’s Harvey races to sixth-place finish at cross-country skiing World Cup
LILLEHAMMER, Norway — Canada’s Alex Harvey put down another impressive sixth-place finish in the 30-kilometre skiathlon race on Sunday at the World Cup in Lillehammer, Norway.
Harvey of St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que., put in a hard effort on what is arguably the most difficult course on the World Cup Tour that features a punishing four-minute climb to clock a sixth-place time of one hour 17 minutes 0.2 seconds.
“It was a really good day with a steady, hard pace right from the gun. I felt good all day and the skis were great,” said the 29-year-old Harvey, who was the lone Canadian to crack the top-30 in Saturday’s sprint race, finishing 28th. “I’m missing my top speed right now, but the base is really good – maybe better than it has ever been. To finish sixth when I know I’m not in the best shape yet is really good.”
The skiathlon combines 15 kilometres of classic-skiing, followed by 15 more kilometres of skate-skiing. Athletes enter a transition zone to change equipment between the two legs with the clock still running.