Alex Harvey thrills hometown crowd with silver medal at Ski Tour Canada

Alex Harvey, of St-Fereo,l Que., reacts to his second place finish during the men's 1.7 km sprint free at the FIS cross country world cup on March 4, 2016 in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot / The Canadian Press)

QUEBEC -- Alex Harvey earned a silver medal in front of his hometown fans on Friday afternoon in a skate-ski sprint around the Plains of Abraham, one of Quebec City's famous landmarks.

Harvey, who grew up a short distance away in Saint Ferreol les Neiges, Que., captured second in the third stage of the gruelling eight-race Ski Tour Canada.

"I had dreams of a podium finish here when I first heard we'd be hosting a Tour in Canada," said Harvey, who qualified for the round of 30 in the head-to-head heats. "The crowd got louder and louder all day long every time my name was called. The noise gave me wings today and I felt like I was just floating down the trail."

It was the 17th World Cup medal of a standout career for the 27-year-old, two-time Olympian. His first medal also came on Canadian snow when he and George Grey won the bronze at Whistler Olympic Park in B.C. in a 2009 Team Sprint race.

It was Harvey's second medal this year, and best sprint finish. Harvey also won a silver medal at the season-opening weekend in Ruka, Finland in the 10-kilometre skate-ski race.

France's Baptiste Gros outlasted Harvey at the finish to win the third stage. Russia's Sergey Ustiugov came third.

Jesse Cockney of Canmore, Alta., posted the second-best result of his career in 10th.

The 26-year-old, who was one of the last to be selected for the Canadian squad for the inaugural Tour, qualified 28th for the heats and took full advantage of the opportunity advancing into the semifinals after finishing second in his opening heat. Cockney's day came to an end, though, when he crossed the line fifth in the second round.

Maya MacIsaac-Jones, from Athabasca, Alta., who qualified for her first-ever World Cup sprint heats earlier this week, backed up her career-best performance by narrowly missing the heats in 34th spot as the top Canadian on the women's 1.5-kilometre sprint course.

Sweden's Stina Nilsson won the women's race. Norway's Maiken Caspersen Falla and Heidi Weng finished second and third respectively.

Harvey sits in fourth spot in the overall standings, just under two minutes behind the leader Sergey Ustiugov. Norway's Petter Northug is second, while his teammate, Emil Iversen is third. Athletes start time-behind-the leader based on opening three stages.

Devon Kershaw, of Sudbury, Ont., who broke a pole during Friday's qualifying round sits 20th overall.