By André Santos
Marcialonga soon celebrates its 50th anniversary, and throughout these years, the Italian event has been one of the main organizations responsible for the development of cross- country skiing in Italy and Central Europe. With increased interest in Visma Ski Classics, we decided to ask: Will the Italian athletes be the next powerhouse of long distance skiing?
Marcialonga and other Italian events of the Visma Ski Classics circuit are famous due to the beauty of their landscapes and to the challenge that the courses provide to athletes of all levels. These events attract not only elite athletes, but also recreational skiers who travel from all over the world. But if we go back 50 years, the story turns out to be very different.
In 1969, Giulio Giovannini and Roberto Moggio were the first Italian athletes racing at a long distance ski event – Vasaloppet. They were able to cross the finish line among very experienced Scandinavian skiers, and the year after they were joined by Nele Zorzi and Mario Crisfolini. These athletes became addicted to long distance skiing and decided to create something similar in the Valleys of Fiemme and Fassa, in which they would join elite and amateur athletes in a festive event – this was the beginning of Marcialonga and long distance skiing in Italy, in 1971.
50 years after its beginning, long distance skiing is becoming very popular in Italy. Despite the fact that Italian events are their favorite ones, Italian Pro Team athletes and their teams are ambitious about other races and about all Visma Ski Classics competitions.
But why are Italian athletes so interested in long distance skiing? One possible answer is that today’s elite athletes feel inspired by former Italian athletes who won long distance ski races in the past. For example, on the men’s side, Ulrico Kostner was the winner of the first Marcialonga edition (ahead of the cross country skiing legend Franco Nones) and won again a few times. Also, Maurilio de Zolt has many victories under his belt during the decade of 1990. On the women’s side, Maria Canins won 10 years in a row, from 1979 to 1989, and Guidina dal Sasso won four years in a row.
Therefore, it’s easy to understand that interest in Visma Ski Classics is increasing in Italy. For example, the terms “Visma Ski Classics” and “long distance skiing” have an average of more than 200 online searches per month. When analyzing the data, we see that this interest increased a lot over the last season.
But what could make the interest in the Visma Ski Classics even greater? According to Bruno Debertolis, Team Robinson Trentino’s Director and a influential name in the Italian long distance skiing movement, it’s about money. If more funding was given to Italian Pro Teams, it would be good to the popularity of the sport.
“Only two long distance skiers have the possibility to live and train as professional skiers, at least for 4/5 months, in the fall and winter. But unfortunately, it’s not enough to compete for the top places. But I believe that we have two or three skiers of the Italian national team that can be strong enough to win some races. I hope that, in the future, I can bring them to the Visma Ski Classics circuit. The traditional cross-country ski clubs are now waking up to the benefits of long distance skiing, but they still need enough funding to train young athletes to reach a top level,” says Bruno.
Also Francesco Ferrari, Sottozero Gold Team athlete believes that a new generation of long distance skiers feel inspired not only by the achievements of older Italian athletes, but also by world-famous legends such as the Aukland Brothers and Tord Asle Gjerdalen.
“Visma Ski Classics is very competitive because the level is very high and because the Italian Pro Teams have smaller budgets. So, most of the athletes have to work/study and train at the same time. But despite that challenge, we always give our best in all races, and Mauro Brigadoi is a great example of that. He reached the impressive 6th place at Yllas-Levi in 2018,” says Francesco.
As Italian skiers become more involved in long distance skiing, it is expected that companies also get more interested in sponsoring Italian Pro Teams, and therefore, more and more Italian athletes reach higher levels.
