By Teemu Virtanen
Morten Eide Pedersen is an unfortunate soldier in the battlefield of long distance skiing as he is facing adversity again by losing his new team. First the successful Team BN Bank got dismantled after last season, a team that Morten represented, and he found a new home within a French outfit called Team Jobstation.
In addition to Pedersen, the team were supposed to have some really great athletes such as Jean Marc Gaillard, Masako Ishida and even Dario Cologna considered wearing the team colors in some Visma Ski Classics races. But then the title sponsor decided to withdraw from the game leaving the team without funds to run the operation.
Now, Morten is on his own again looking for options. He has performed extremely well in roller-ski races over the summer, and he is in great shape. Even if things may not seem the brightest at the moment, he oozes optimism and feels like he is ready for the new season.
“Right now, I focus on having good training this month and the next. I hope to get some private sponsors to help me cover travel expenses for the races and get a service team in place. Maybe, I’ll just put my focus on the biggest races such as Marcialonga, Birken and Vasaloppet and then stay in Norway and Scandinavia doing national races and perhaps I’ll try to qualify for a World Cup race.”
Morten finished 5thin the Hertz Champion competition last winter and took home two podium places and finished 5th twice. If the stars align, he will certainly find a sponsor or a great team and fight for more podium places when the Season X commences.
