Canadian Alex Harvey 5th at 'mayhem' Tour de Ski
Cross-country skier recovers from broken pole in 5th stage
A broken pole and brutal race conditions weren't enough to keep Canadian Alex Harvey from his second-straight top-five finish on the Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, Germany on Thursday.
One day after heavy rain and high winds forced the cancellation of the fourth stage of the seven-race Tour — a classic-ski sprint race — Mother Nature stole the show once again. The world's best cross-country skiers were forced to contend with wet and slushy conditions on a relatively flat, 15-kilometre skate-ski mass start race that resulted in countless crashes and broken poles.
Starting in the fourth spot of the mass pack of 67 athletes, the 29-year-old skied to fifth place with a time of 29 minutes 53.8 seconds.
Norway's Emil Iversen won the race with a time of 29:49.8. Sindre Bjoernestad Skar, also of Norway, was second at 29:50.2, while Italy's Francesco De Fabiani skied to third place at 29:50.7. Tour leader, Dario Cologna, finished just ahead of Harvey in fourth place with a time of 29:53.
"It was complete mayhem out there today and I think made our sport look bad," said Harvey. "The conditions were sketchy. Guys were crashing everywhere. The course is so flat that everyone was skiing in a large pack and people were breaking poles. They should have just held an individual start race."
One of those snapped poles on the day belonged to the Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges skier, who now sits fourth in the overall standings of the Tour de Ski.
Haywood Update: <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_harvey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alex_harvey</a> still 4th after stage 5 of the Tour de Ski, 16 seconds from the podium after a photo finish for 5th today in the 15k mass start. <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TeamCanada</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCOlympics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBCOlympics</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RC_Sports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RC_Sports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TVASports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TVASports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LP_LaPresse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LP_LaPresse</a> <a href="https://t.co/Opaa9fkI6z">pic.twitter.com/Opaa9fkI6z</a>
—@cccskiDetermined to avoid the carnage while sprinting for valuable bonus seconds that were out on the course, Harvey skied smart at the front of the large group throughout the first two trips around the seven-lap race. Making valuable time up on many of the overall Tour leaders, Harvey gave much of it back after dropping back into the pack until the final lap where he put it all on the line.
"I just tried to ski smart and near the front, but with the slow snow it was a tough one," said Harvey. "I got stuck in the line, busted a pole on the second last lap and then dropped to 40th. The course was flat, kept everyone together and there was nowhere to move. I got lucky."
Harvey was not prepared to succumb to the elements, fighting to make up for lost time on the outside of the pack on the final 2.5-km loop where he stormed his way into fifth ahead of three other skiers grouped together in a photo finish.