Ski Tour Canada: Alex Harvey digging deep for 2nd half of races

Alex Harvey did the interview sitting down. Halfway through eight races in a dozen days, the Canadian cross-country skier was saving his legs.

Harvey and the host team resume the gruelling Ski Tour Canada on Tuesday in Canmore, Alta., after four races in Quebec.

Harvey heads into the tour's second half ranked fourth overall. The 27-year-old from Saint-Ferreol-Les-Neiges, Que., won a silver medal in a skate-ski sprint and was fourth in a 15k pursuit last week in Quebec City.

The series opened with races in Gatineau, Que., and Montreal. Russia's Sergey Ustiugov arrived in Canmore the men's overall men's leader. Norwegians Petter Northug Jr., and Emil Iverson were second and third respectively.

Harvey was two minutes, four seconds back of Ustiugov and 51 seconds behind Iverson.

"The dream is to come back on the podium," Harvey said Monday after a training session. "I'm going to need really good days and I'm going to need the guys in third, second and first to not have amazing days. If they keep putting time on me, it's going to be hard.

No bad days

"We're still only at the halfway point. There's still a lot to go. Now you really have to stay strong and you can't really have a bad day because it's going to be hard to catch back up after that."

Norwegian women dominated the tour's first half with Heidi Weng, Therese Johaug, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen and Maiken Caspersen Falla holding down first to fourth respectively.

After Tuesday's classic sprint, a men's 30k and women's 15k on Wednesday combine classic and skate-ski techniques. Friday's interval start and Saturday's classic pursuit conclude both the tour and the World Cup season.

There will be races within races at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Skiers are chasing medals in each day's race, but also fast times to climb the rankings in the Ski Tour Canada. World Cup points are also awarded according to finish.

Not only will the Ski Tour Canada champions be crowned Saturday, but so will the season's overall World Cup champions. It will mark the first time in history that cross-country skiing's crystal globes will be hoisted outside of Europe.

There's also almost $870,000 in prize money to be won in the Ski Tour Canada.

Multiple races in a compressed time frame at the end of the long racing season is draining the skiers' tanks. Harvey was eating, drinking, sleeping and stretching more than usual. He was vigilant about getting on the massage table as well.

'Nobody wakes up fresh like a daisy'

"In the morning, it takes a solid 30 minutes to really start the engine because the muscles are sore, swollen from the day before," Harvey explained. "You've got to stay strong mentally just to re-start the engine day after day.

"In the mornings, especially coming into the halfway point now, nobody wakes up fresh like a daisy."

Devon Kershaw of Sudbury, Ont., is a veteran of stage races having competed in Europe's Tour de Ski since its inception in 2006. He finished fourth in 2012.

"You have to stay on top of your mobility, you have to stay on top of therapy when it's available," the two-time Olympian said. "You have to eat well and often."

Canada has a large host team of 24 skiers in Canmore. Kershaw ranked 21st among the men and Emily Nishikawa of Whitehorse was the top Canadian woman in 45th after four races.

The Nordic Centre is the national team's training base, so the Canadians have access to their full support staff this week. The team is staying at a downtown lodge owned by former Olympic skiers Sara Renner and Thomas Grandi and have their own chef.

"Our athletes are getting the best fuel, which is really important," head coach Justin Wadsworth said. "We don't normally have the budget to travel with a cook."

The tour has moved from frigid conditions in Quebec to spring-like temperatures in Alberta. But the Canmore forecast has temperatures dipping below zero at night, which should help maintain the race course.

"It's almost easier to race in warmer conditions," Harvey said. "It's better for the lungs. You don't have to fight to stay warm in the warm-up area in between the rounds in the sprints."