The first and only Danish Pro Team is gearing up for their fourth season in Ski Classics Pro Tour. After securing 26th place in the Pro Team Competition during Season XVI, the squad is looking forward to the upcoming winter season with renewed motivation and clear ambitions.
The team started in the winter of 2021 as a gathering of the fastest Danes interested in long-distance skiing, and after some talk at the national championships the year before, the first and only Danish Pro Team was registered for Season XIV.
According to the Pro Team Director Joachim Thrane, the team’s foundation was driven by a simple but powerful goal:
“The initial purpose of the team was to increase the interest for long-distance cross-country-skiing in Denmark, as we have very good conditions for roller skiing and double poling training. With the project running for more than a year, this has been expanded to motivate and inspire an active lifestyle and the love for cross-country skiing in general, especially in places where cross-country skiing is not (yet) the most favored sport.”
Looking ahead to Season XVII, Thrane highlights both athletic and developmental goals:
“We have been on the Ski Classics circuit for the past three seasons and are looking forward to our fourth. From an athletic perspective, the goal is to compete on a national level among the smaller nations and to provide opportunities for athletes from established nations to evolve further.
For the upcoming winter, the Danish Skimarathon Team will line up with seven Pro Team athletes: two from Denmark, four from Sweden, and one from Germany: Madelene Halvardsson (1998), Lovisa Kjerstensson (1993), Sara Elgström (1998), Erica Smedberg (1987), Sune Elmose (1974), Joachim Thrane (1993), Tobias Dargatz (1990).
