By André Santos
Bruno Debertolis is a familiar face within the world of long distance cross-country skiing. Everyone who has been following the Visma Ski Classics Pro Tour knows how dedicated and passionate he is about the sport. Now, he works with the same passion for his team – Team Robinson Trentino.
After competing for 10 years with Fiamme Gialle (the military group) and 10 years with the Italian National Team and having more than 60 World Cups races under his belt, Debertolis started a new adventure – long distance skiing where he won all the Italian competitions with the exception of Marcialonga. During his career consisting of more than 50 Visma Ski Classics races, he never reached the podium – but he was always almost there, giving everything he had, making him one of the top athletes of the Pro Tour.
Now that he has retired from being an athlete, Debertolis is managing Team Ronbinson Trentino with the same passion he had for his professional training. When asked about his future projects, he states that his goal is to focus 100% on his team, doing everything he can to help his athletes succeed.
Team Robinson Trentino has some news for the upcoming season. Feeling stronger than ever, they now have more top athletes in their squad, counting on Olympic and World Champions just like Justyna Kowalkzyc and Alexander Pazhinskiy to bring success to the team. Debertolis believes that the team’s new addition, the olympic skier Alexander Pazhinskiy, will bring great success to the team since he is a very strong athlete with a lot of experience. Moreover, we can expect that Justyna will continue to do what she does best – being a top contender in all the races she steps in.
Although the team is feeling stronger than ever, they could not plan any summer training camp due to sponsor issues, so they decided to save their money for the winter. A big part of Debertolis work is to get the attention of Italian fans and then increase the interest of potential sponsors, which is not an easy task. As he states, it is an extremely hard life because big companies invest in sports like soccer, motor sports and road cycling, and not so much in cross-country skiing. But fortunately, he has found some sponsors that share his passion for the sport and are willing to devote their resources to its development.
But, as we all know, the north of Italy is one of the best places in Europe for long distance skiers to train. According to Debertolis, they have the Dolomiti, they have an amazing sea, extraordinary food and beautiful landscapes – it’s a long distance skiing Paradise where one can double pole uphill for a really long time.
As we say goodbye, we wish this soldier the best for the upcoming season and also wish him luck for the only race he will be competing in 2020 – Red Bull Nordenskiöldsloppet!
