There’s been a bit of a love affair with Canmore’s Nordic Centre course as it’s been the focus of the ski world for the second time this year.
After last month’s IBU world cup biathlon races, the Canmore Nordic Centre hosted Ski Tour Canada’s weeklong visit March 6-12, which brought world-renowned cross-country skiing talent to the small Alberta mountain town.
The tour began in Quebec at the beginning of March and completed the last leg of it nation-wide tour in mild conditions in the Canadian Rockies.
The top Canadian was Alex Harvey, finishing fifth overall in the Ski Tour (4:09:29.1).
“(To place) top five like that on a stage tour – a long stage tour – is my best results by far,” said Harvey. “Before, it was 10th, so I cut that in half. It was a great tour for me.”
Harvey said his final two weeks of the season were great, but he still sees areas for improvement over the next two years heading for the 2018 Olympics in South Korea.
Including Harvey, four Canadian men cracked the top 30 in (Ivan Babikov, 14th, Devon Kershaw, 16th, and Graeme Killick, 27th). This strong showcase might propel the Canadian men’s program to the top three in the world, said Justin Wadsworth, coach of the Canadian team (recently retired, see page 41).
“We have three (men) in the top 16 in the tour, which maybe is one of the stronger teams outside Norway, (and) Russia – then maybe it’s Canada, so that’s something to keep in perspective,” said Wadsworth.
“It’s been an up and down (season) kind of like the tour, you know. It’s normally like that and I think it was a better finish. The tour was pretty good in general for us and it’s a ice way to end the season,” said Wadsworth.
The top Canadian woman in the tour was Emily Nishikawa, finishing in 37th (2:59:05.7).
Canadians Cendrine Browne was 40th, Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt was 44th, Annika Hicks was 47th and Maya MacIsaac-Jones was 49th.
Nishikawa’s highlight has been watching the Canadian women’s program evolve and to see her teammates receive world cup opportunities.
“Just seeing this group of women come together, we started with 12, we finished with five, which is great,” said Nishikawa. “This is a really hard tour, so to have five of us finish today, I think, is huge. We’ve had some standout results from our women, so I’m proud to part of this women’s team and its only going to get better for us.”
Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby finished first in the men’s tour (4:06:35.2), Russian Sergey Ustiugov was second (4:07:32.9), and Norway’s Petter Northug was third (4:08:27.7).
The Norwegian women swept the podium as Therese Johaug was first overall (2:40:52.0), Heidi Weng was second (2:41:59.8), and in third was Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg (2:43:05.3).
DAY ONE – Canucks Valjas, Beatty crack top 15 in SkiTour Sprint
Three Canadians fought their way into the heats at Ski Tour Canada, Tuesday (March 8) in Canmore, but the sunny day was “bittersweet” for the Canucks.
Len Valjas was the top Canadian with an 11th-place finish in the men’s 1.5-kilometre sprint at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Standout Alex Harvey was frustrated with his performance, finishing 21st, and Dahria Beatty was the top Canadian woman on the day, finishing 15th in the women’s 1.5-km.
With his parents and family in Canmore to watch Valjas do what he does best, it couldn’t have been a better day to perform so well.
“I loved everything about today,” said Valjas, who, along with Beatty, capitalized on separate falls from their competition during their quarterfinal heats.
Valjas passed Alexander Bessmertnykh after the leading Russian wiped out taking an unforgiving sharp corner under a bridge with about 300 metres left in the heat. Valjas was able to press hard down the stretch, leaving the Russian behind to make it to the semifinals.
“I can’t complain, this was a dream come true to get back into the semi for the second time this year, back at home,” said Valjas. “In the semifinal, I was starting to get a bit tired; if you don’t push over the top of the hills you don’t get the same finishing speed.”
Beatty took advantage when Norway’s Therese Johaug took a spill on the same tricky corner, but the Canuck missed the semifinals by less than a half-second. The 21 year old, who has lived in Canmore for the past four years, was all smiles, though, about her best result in the sprint.
“I’ve never started so fast in my life, I don’t know what happened,” said Beatty. “(…) I just kept pushing hard and Johaug took a tumble, so she was able to pull me back to the contact a little bit and my skis were running really well.”
Wadsworth said he looked at the day’s sprint as a “glass half full” kind of day.
“It’s a bittersweet day, of course; we always want somebody to be in the finals and going for the podium, but at the same time we had a couple of strong performances on the guy’s side and it’s great Dahria made it in on the inside, that’s really great for her,” said Wadsworth.
Wadsworth spoke on Harvey, who shouted out in frustration crossing the line in his quarterfinal heat. After the race ended his day early, Harvey was quick to leave the athletes’ area following the heat.
“In Alex’s case, he got bent up and bumped out of the quarters and we’re going to use that as a positive and be more rested for tomorrow,” said Wadsworth at the time.
“I know Alex is disappointed, but at the same time, it’s a tour and he’s been there before and let’s move on.”
For the men, Italy’s Federico Pellegrino won gold, Norway’s Eirik Brandsdal claimed silver, and France’s Maurice Manificat was bronze.
For the women, it was a clean podium sweep for the Norwegians. Maiken Caspersen Fallas was first, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen was second, and Ingvild Fulgstad Oestberg was third.
DAY TWO – Harvey, Babikov top 10 in Ski Tour skiathlon
Canadian men brought their A-game to the Nordic Centre on Wednesday (March 9) as four skiers cracked the top 25 at the Ski Tour Canada’s 30-km skiathlon.
Harvey finished seventh (1:16:37.1) and crossed the line as the top Canadian at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Babikov finished 10th (1:16:46.6), Killick, 19th (1:18:03.9) and Kershaw, 24th (1:18:43.9).
Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby was first (1:16:29.7), Russian Sergey Ustiugov was second (1:16:32.5), and Finland’s Matti Heikkinen was third (1:16:33.4).
Smooth conditions aided the cross-country skiers in their long journey from start to finish as Nishikawa ended up 37th (43:57.6) and was the top Canadian woman in the taxing race at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
Browne crossed the line right behind Nishikawa in 38th (44:0.9), Beatty checked in at 41st (44:40.0) and finishing behind her was Bouffard-Nesbitt in 42nd (44:45.2).
Nishikawa, 26, wishes she had been a bit snappier on the course, but was “inspired” by the gutsy top-15 sprint performance a day earlier by teammate Beatty.
“The course was amazing, I just love racing here in Canmore,” said Nishikawa. “I wanted more for myself today, but I had to tough it out on a hard day … my body is definitely starting to feel the fatigue and I was tired today.”
Just like in Tuesday’s (March 8) female sprint, Norwegians swept the podium.
Weng had a golden performance, coming in at 39.41.0. Johaug took silver (39:41.8) after a wipeout in the sprint knocked her out of podium contention, and Uhrenholdt Jacobsen claimed bronze (39:50.8), to go with a silver medal in the sprint.
Rounding out the top 50 for Canada were Katherine Stewart-Jones (48th) and Annika Hicks (49th).
DAY THREE - Harvey edged off podium
Alex Harvey narrowly missed the podium Friday (March 11) at the Ski Tour in Canmore, but the standout was thrilled with the “unexpected” result.
It was a nail-biter down the final stretch of the men’s 15-km free technique as the crowd at the Canmore Nordic Centre let out a glum groan when Harvey’s then third-place time was snapped by hard pressing Marcus Hellner of Sweden.
Despite missing the medal, Harvey was very pleased with his result.
“I think it was one of the best races of my life here,” said Harvey following the race. “Canmore has actually been really hard for me in the past, I’ve had a lot of bad races here … so a top five is really unexpected for me here today, I really think its one of the best performances of my life.”
Babikov turned in an 11th-place performance (36:16.5), Kershaw was 20th (36:46.3), and rounding out the top 30 was Killick, finishing in 29th (37:04.7).
In first place was Finland’s Heikkinen (35:16.3), Russian Evgeniy Belov was second (35:29.9) and Hellner took third (35:30.2).
Earlier Friday, the women’s 10-km free technique got underway.
Nishikawa was the top Canadian female, finishing 35th (25:31.4).
She focused in on her technique during the race.
“(I feel) better than the skiathlon day. I think we’re all really tired, so obviously I’m not full of energy like I like to feel, but it’s OK,” said Nishikawa.
Beatty was 40th (25:54.0), Bouffard-Nesbitt finished 42nd (26:23.3), Browne 44th (26:28.1), MacIsaac-Jones was 46th (26:52.4) and rounding out the top 50 was Hicks, crossing the line in 48th (27:22.7).
Norway’s Flugstad Oestberg took first place in the race (23:20.1), Norway’s Weng was second (23:43.1), and Finland’s Parmakoski crossed the line in third (23:44.6).
DAY FOUR – Canucks wrap up Ski Tour
Sloppy conditions cursed the course in the final day (March 12) of Ski Tour Canada at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
Racing in soft, slushy snow, Harvey was the top Canadian on the day, finishing fifth (50: 18.0) in the 15-kilometre pursuit classic.
Harvey said he was just “not on” once the challenging pursuit got underway.
“I wasn’t skiing well technically, the timing, (it was) just not a good day. I didn’t think I could get caught (by France’s Maurice Manificat), he started so far behind. I didn’t think there was any way I could get caught, but yeah, just a bad day,” said Harvey.
Wadsworth said there have been a few wars on the course this season.
“I mean, we don’t see in every season races like this, but today was a real battle, it makes the best in the world look not that great,” he said.
Babikov finished 14th (54:54.4), Kershaw was 16th (55:41.2), and rounding out the top 30 was Killick in 27th (59:08.4).
Kershaw said the “vicious” conditions made for a really long and hard 15-km, however, this was his best tour this season.
“I didn’t have any great races, but I had a lot of solid races, so that’s a good way to end the year,” said Kershaw.
In first place was Norway’s Sundby (47:24.1), Russian Ustiugov was second (48:21.8) and Norway’s Northug was third (49:16.6).
Earlier in the day, the women’s 10-km pursuit classic kicked off to similar course conditions.
Nishikawa crossed the line 37th as the top Canadian female (52:26.1) in the classic.
“Today, I started and I just wanted to go as fast as I can in the mass start and I think for the first lap and a half it was a really good. I was up there with the leaders and then I blew up and it was just survival mode to the finish,” said Nishikawa.
“Maybe it wasn’t the best pacing for me, but it’s good to learn just to go at that pace with some of the fastest girls in the world. I hung on for six kilometres and hopefully next time I can hold on for 10 kilometres.”
For the Canadians, Browne was 40th (55:00.5), Bouffard-Nesbitt was 44th (56:36.9), Hicks was 47th (1:02:30.0), and MacIsaac-Jones was 49th (1:03:37.7).
The first lap was the hardest for Browne, but she finished the classic strongly.
“I am happy about the results, the conditions were really hard. It was soft and my skis were getting slower and slower ‘cause it was getting warmer and warmer. It was a hard fight, but I’m happy I’m done and I finished the tour and I feel great,” said Browne.
It was another Norwegian sweep on the podium as Johaug got the gold (34:12.4), Weng was second (35:20.2) and in third was Flugstad Oestberg (36:25.7).
