This Italian Pro Team has some Nordic blood in its veins. There is one Finnish and two Swedish female skiers in the team along with one Spanish and four Italians male athletes.

The Nordic reinforcements do not have experience in Visma Ski Classics, but skiing is their forte. Annika Sjöström from Finland has raced in some long distance events over the years and at the Finnish Nationals while Malin Börjesjö from Sweden competed for the college ski team at Northern Michigan University (NMU) in the USA for the last two seasons. Maja Eriksson is a sprint bronze medalist at the Swedish Junior Championships.

All of the male athletes are familiar faces in the Pro Tour. Lorenzo Busin did seven races last season and was in the top-50 three times as was Francesco Ferrari who finished the whole season. Mauro Brigadoi also took part in every race with some results close to the top-20. Christian Lorenzi did six races, of which Årefjällsloppet’s 55^th place was his best result, while the Spaniard Sadurni Betriu did four races, and the season finale was also his best, 63^rd.

Michele Pasqualotto, the director, says that the team wants to reinforce their Italian leadership in long distance skiing and get better in the Pro Team competition.

“We are very happy to meet the Scandinavian leaders of cross-country skiing and to share the perks of this sport with them and the other teams. We’re pleased to have new sport adventures in picturesque locations. As you know, we live in a land, Trentino, dedicated to the sports, with a strong tradition in hospitality, culture and nature, and we are very proud to be testimonial of all this in the Visma Ski Classics world.”

Pro Team director: Michele Pasqualotto

Country: Italy

Ranking: 16.

Athletes: http://www.vismaskiclassics.com/pro-skiing/pro-teams/team-internorm-t…-zorzi-max-by-sz/