Three Canadians landed in the top 30 as the historic Ski Tour Canada made its debut in Gatineau, Que., Tuesday (March 1).
Alex Harvey needed a little luck to grab 11th spot in the skate sprint near Parliament Hill, while world cup rookies Knute Johnsgaard and Maya MacIsaac-Jones cracked the top 30 for the first time in their careers.
After qualifying 15th, Harvey found himself in a superfast quarter-final, where he finished fourth. Thankfully, the Canadian earned a ‘lucky loser’ spot and a trip to the semifinals.
Harvey hung at the back of the pack early on, trying to pick his spots against some of the best sprinters in the world. The Canadian parliament buildings looming on the horizon, and with the best sprinters in the world in his sights, Harvey jockeyed for position, arriving in the final corner in fourth spot.
But the hard-charging Harvey lost an edge on the final corner and tumbled at the crucial point. Devoid of speed, he ended up 6th in his heat, and 11th overall.
“It was a great start to the tour. I felt really good out there as the day went on,” Harvey said. “I haven’t had much success this year qualifying in the sprint races, so to be 15th was a good sign.”
After finishing 29th in qualifiers, 23-year-old Johnsgaard’s quarter-final saw him line up against the fastest man of the day, Petter Northug. The young Yukoner with a penchant for moose meat fired full blasters on the 1.7 kilometre sprint and hung tight with the competitive field. Although he fell off the pace on the final stretch, he was happy with the day, finishing 30th overall.
“That was pretty awesome. My goal all year was to qualify for the sprint heats, so to do it I wasn’t really intimidated racing these guys. I really wanted to make the best of the experience. I thought my shape was pretty good coming into the Tour, so this shows me that it is and I should be fine for the rest of the way. I hope to be able to build on this and qualify again in Quebec City,” Johnsgaard said.
MacIsaac-Jones also had the best day of her career. The 20 year old showed no fear in the qualifier, where she had the 29th fastest time of the day. The Rocky Mountain Racers product paved the way for the Canadian women with the best result of her life.
“I’m so excited. It means a lot to me to be in the points. I think it is great for Canadian women to have someone in the points, and I hope this inspires the other women skiers on the Tour with me,” MacIsaac-Jones said. “I think this shows we can be in the mix. My goal was just to stick with them. I honestly have never skied that fast in my life. I really just wanted to hang on. I was happy I was able to do that and not finish too far off the pace.”
Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla won the women’s race in decisive fashion over Sweden’s Stina Nilsson and American Jessie Diggins.
The men’s A final was extremely close, with six athletes all figuring into a photo finish. Once the results were checked, Russian Sergey Ustiugov won the men’s race, edging Richard Jouve of France and Simeon Hamilton in third.
The series now shifts to Quebec City for three races.
The races arrive in Canmore on March 8, beginning with the classic sprint. March 9 brings the skiathlon, followed by the pursuit on March 11, and mass start on March 12.
