Canadian cross-country ski coach Tor-Arne Hetland vowed Canadian athletes and wax techs would improve after a disappointing showing on the Tour de Ski.
Canadians traditionally perform well on the Tour de Ski, as Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey and Ivan Babikov tend to perform well in the nine-day, seven race event modeled after the Tour de France.
While the Tour saw Canada win its first world cup medal of the season thanks to Alex Harvey’s silver medal in the 15 kilometre classic pursuit on Jan. 4, the athletes and coaches weren’t satisfied with their overall results.
“It was not the best races from Canada in this year’s tour, but it is possible to find positive races. The top-30 results for Ivan and Devon were destroyed on Saturday (Jan. 10) with slow skis. Athletes and service can and will be better in the next races,” Hetland said.
Harvey was in contention for the overall win for two-thirds of the tour, but dropped out of contention after a 34th-place finish in the 15 km classic in Val Di Fiemme, Italy. He pulled out of the final race, a nine-kilometre hill climb skate race. Long skate climbs irritate the iliac artery in his Harvey’s hip, pinching off blood flow in his leg.
Ivan Babikov finished 31st overall on the strength of that same final hill climb. He had the 12th fastest time of the day, but it wasn’t enough for him to reach his goal of a top-30 finish. Babikov thrives on the nine-kilometre hill climb, at its 28 per cent hill climb.
“I felt pretty good and skis were working good as well. I thought I was moving well up the hill (compared to past years), but was very surprised when I heard that I got the 12th time of the day. Guys ahead must have moved very fast. That was the fastest time up the hill out of all previous tours, almost by a minute (by winner Clara),” Babikov said.
The lackluster result in what’s traditionally his best race of the year was a bitter pill for Babikov to swallow. His best result on the tour this year was a 30th-place finish in the 15 km pursuit in Oberstdorf, Germany.
“I was looking forward to that race, especially when all the other races didn’t go that good. So in the overall, I’m disappointed by my performance in the tour. Now we are all trying to get in better shape for the world cup in Rybinsk, Russia and world championships after that.”
Kershaw also had a poor performance on the Tour. Usually a medal threat, this year his best result was a 21st-place finish in the 10 km classic race in Toblach, Italy on Jan. 7. He was 35th in the last two races of the tour, and cracked the top 30 four times.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway won the tour for the second year in a row, taking the title from countryman Peter Northug in the final race. He began the final pursuit race a mere 3.1 seconds behind Northug and overtook him on the 9 km climb. He becomes only the second male skier to win consecutive titles. Dario Cologna of Switzerland was the first.
Marit Bjoergen won the women’s Tour for the first time in her career. Even though she has 89 world cup medals to her name, this was her first Tour de Ski win.
No Canadian women took part in the tour this year.
After Western Canadian Championships, Canada will send a young team to the world cup stop in Otepaa, Estonia. Len Valjas, Jesse Cockney and Patrick Stewart-Jones will race alongside Perianne Jones and Alysson Marshall. The full world cup team will race in Rybinsk, Russia.
