CROSS-COUNTRY:

Canadian XC men's relay 9th in France

Dec. 1, 2010 — Alpine Canada  

LA CLUSAZ, France —The Canadian men’s cross-country ski squad wrapped up the pre-Christmas World Cup schedule with a ninth-place finish in the team relay in La Clusaz, France, on Sunday.

One of the most talented group of athletes on the World Cup circuit, Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov, Alex Harvey and Len Valjas cracked the top 10 after clocking a combined time of 1 hour, 45 minutes, 14.2 seconds in the men’s 4x10 kilometre relay.

“Overall the team a pretty good job today,” said head voach Justin Wadsworth. “Lenny hasn’t had much World Cup experience but did a great job leading the way and the rest of the guys were solid. It was a good day.”

Valjas maintained his pace with the frontrunners until the third lap when he tripped up in some slippery conditions. After completing the opening leg, Valjas tagged off to two-time Olympian Kershaw, who posted the third-fastest leg on Sunday. Kershaw and his mates held strong with the chase pack to hold their place in the top 10.

The team from Switzerland stomped the field after posting a winning time of 1:42:14.6. Russia captured the silver medal after finishing just over 30 seconds off the pace at 1:42:45.4, while Norway rounded out the men’s podium in third with a time of 1:42:48.4.

The ninth-place finish by the Canadians wraps up a solid opening month on the World Cup. After a disappointing opening week in Sweden, Canada’s men and women athletes have been maintaining pace with the world’s elite, regularly placing in the top 15. The pre-Christmas schedule was highlighted with Chandra Crawford and Dasha Gaiazova’s bronze-medal victory in the team sprint in Germany, along with Kershaw leading the charge in men’s race, whose worse distance result has been an impressive 13th.

“Overall we are very happy as a team. Each athlete on the World Cup has enjoyed strong results and shown glimmers of hope,” said Wadsworth. “Devon has been extremely strong and the girls getting on the podium has led the way. We are meeting expectations right now, but our focus is to peak at the Tour de Ski and World Championships, so we are looking forward to those events.”

The Canadian team will now head to Davos, Switzerland, to prepare for the Tour d Ski over the holidays. The tour, launched in 2007, will see the world’s best cross-country ski athletes compete in eight races over 10 days at five venues, Dec. 31 to Jan. 9.

S-Magazine

La Clusaz World Cup cross-country relay results

Top-5 Men and Canadian Results:
1. Switzerland, 1:42:14.6; 2. Russia, 1:42:45.4; 3. Norway, 1:42:48.4; 4. Finland, 1:42:49.6; 5. Sweden, 1:42:51.4
Canadian Results:
9. Canada – Len Valjas, Toronto/Devon Kershaw, Sudbury, Ont./Ivan Babikov, Canmore, Alta./Alex Harvey, St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., 1:45:14.2