The goal for gender equality with the number of registered athletes in the Pro Teams is closing in. Season XVI has reached the highest percentage of female Pro Team athletes historically! Get ready for a new and exciting winter season of Ski Classics with the Pro Teams release starting on Thursday, October 10.
As Ski Classics gear up for another Pro Tour season, all indications point to an unforgettable winter ahead.
For Season XVI, the Pro Teams are ready to return to the action, competing in 14 Pro Tour events spread across 10 event weekends in 6 countries. The Ski Classics Pro Tour opens with the Pro Team presentation in Bad Gastein, Austria, on Friday, December 13, and the first competition of the season Bad Gastein ITT, on Saturday, December 14, 2024, and will conclude with the Ski Classics Grand Finale Summit 2 Senja in Bardufoss-Finnsnes, Norway, on March 30, 2025.
At the publishing time, 42,80% of the Pro Team athletes registered are women, and 57,20% are men. The percentage of Youth athletes is 32,63% of the total skiers, of which 57,14% are Youth women and 42,86% are Youth men. The rate of Cubs athletes is 5,51% of the total skiers, of which 69,23% are Cubs women and 30,77% are Cubs men. Naturally, these figures will change during the season as more athletes register for specific events.
“We are delighted to see that the number of females in Ski Classics is getting closer and closer to the natural 50/50 goal. It shows that our active efforts with different actions over time have worked to increase the number of females in our Pro Teams. One example is the new minimum three men and three women rule to apply for a Pro Team license introduced for the coming winter. Ski Classics can only create the platform, so we depend on the hard work done by Pro Teams and their Pro Team Directors over time. As mentioned this spring, we will not be satisfied until the 50/50 goal is reached. However, we don’t see gender equality as a main problem for the Pro Tour to continue its continuous development. Rather, the main quest now is to increase the number of nationalities reaching the podiums at our Pro Tour events over time,” says David Nilsson, Director of Ski Classics.
Also Read: Ski Classics introduces Cubs as a new feature Season XVI
This winter season will again give an excellent platform for Pro Teams and their athletes to perform at their very best. There are skiers from Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, USA, together with Norway and Sweden being well represented.
Norway has the most significant number of athletes, 36,44% of the total number of Pro Team athletes, while Sweden takes the second place with 24,15%. Germany is in third place, with 8,90%.
After the top 3, there’s close competition for the following three countries. Finland has 6,78%, France has 6,36%, and Italy has 5,93% of the total athletes.
Ski Classics Pro Tour Season XVI (2024/2025)
- Event 0: Friday, December 13, 2024 – Ski Classics Pro Team Presentation XVI – Bad Gastein, Austria
- Event 1: Saturday, December 14, 2024 – Bad Gastein ITT – Sportgastein, Austria, 7km
- Event 2: Sunday, December 15, 2024 – Bad Gastein Criterium – Sportgastein, Austria, 36km
- Event 3: Saturday, January 11, 2025 – 3 Zinnen Ski-Marathon – Sexten, Italy, 60km
- Event 4: Sunday, January 12, 2025 – La Venosta ITT Kapron-Melago – Val Venosta, Italy, 12km
- Event 5: Saturday, January 18, 2025 – Engadin La Diagonela – Pontresina-Zuoz, Switzerland, 55km
- Event 6: Sunday, January 26, 2025 – Marcialonga – Trentino, Italy, 70km
- Event 7: Sunday, February 9, 2025 – Jizerská50 – Bedřichov, Czech Republic, 50km
- Event 8: Saturday, February 15, 2025 – Grönklitt Criterium 61 – Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 61km
- Event 9: Sunday, February 16, 2025 – Grönklitt ITT – Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 12km
- Event 10: Sunday, March 2, 2025 – Vasaloppet – Sälen-Mora, Sweden, 90km
- Event 11: Saturday, March 15, 2025 – Birkebeinerrennet – Rena-Lillehammer, Norway, 54km
- Event 12: Saturday, March 22, 2025 – Marcialonga Bodø – Bodø, Norway, 50km
- Event 13: Saturday, March 29, 2025 – Reistadløpet – Setermoen-Bardufoss, Norway, 46km
- Event 14: Sunday, March 30, 2025 – Grand Finale Summit 2 Senja – Bardufoss-Finnsnes, Norway, 60km
For more updates and detailed information about the Ski Classics Pro Tour, make sure to visit skiclassics.com
Photo: Manzoni/NordicFocus
