With the victory of Patrick Fossum Kristoffersen at La Venosta Skiroll and the excellent performance of Thomas Gifstad at Klarälvsloppet, Team Robinson Trentino seems to be in good shape for the upcoming season. ProXCskiing talked with Bruno Debertolis to know his impressions about last weekend.

Last weekend, Team Robinson Trentino performed well at two Ski Classics Challengers events: La Venosta Skiroll and Klarälvsloppet. At La Venosta Skiroll, the Italian Pro Team won, with Patrick Fossum Kristoffersen finishing the race ahead of strong athletes. At Klarälvsloppet, in Sweden, Thomas Gifstad was the fourth man to cross the finish line.

Both events were held while the Pro Team had an altitude training camp that will finish with another tough race this Sunday. ProXCskiing reached out to the Pro Team Director Bruno Debertolis to know how the training camp is going and how his team feels about these good performances.

How are you feeling about the results at La Venosta Skiroll and Klarälvsloppet?

“Last weekend gave us a lot of motivation. It was great to see Patrick Fossum Kristoffersen alone in the front with such strong athletes, like Joar Thele (Team Ragde Charge), trying to catch him. I must say it was even unexpected. It was also great to see the effort of the whole young team. I am happy about this. And finally, I am also happy about the great race of Thomas Gifstad in Karlstad.”

“Next Sunday (today) will be the GP Sportful with the whole Italian National Team and some other strong foreign athletes. The event will be an uphill skating race, and it will probably be tough to reach good results. Anyway, we have some good young skaters who can compete at a high level. We will try to look good in front of the owners of the Sportful brand, our technical sponsor.”

You are in a training camp. What kind of training have you been doing, and who was there?

“We still are on Passo Rolle for a long altitude training camp. Some athletes arrived on September 12 and others on the 17th, and the training camp will end with GP Sportful on Sunday.”

“From the Pro Team, only Tereza Hujerová and Patrick Fossum Kristoffersen are here. From the Talent Team, we have Rebecca Bergagnin. Thomas Gifstad decided to stay in Norway due to his job, and the American athletes will arrive in November to stay in Trentino until April.”

“They all are training focused on long sessions and, of course, some intensity, but less than we did in July. Our athletes are working a lot, with around 25 hours of training per week.”

Another member of your Pro Team performed well during Klarälvsloppet. How does Thomas Gifstad feel about his 4th place?

“We just mentioned Thomas, and he deserves the attention. I believe that he is one of the strongest men in the Ski Classics circuit. We know it, and I hope he understands it too. He just needs to be aware of his capabilities and do what he can do.”

Now that you are starting to see the shape of your athletes, what are your expectations for the winter? 

“I am confident we can fight for top 10 positions in some races. We will fight for the top 3 positions in the Pink bib ranking and hope to become one of the 8-10 best Pro Teams in the Tour. Winter is quite far, but time goes fast, and our athletes are ready and motivated.”

Until the start of the season, will the team have more training camps and competitions?

“We must wait to see how the snow conditions in Scandinavia and the Alps will be in the weeks before the beginning of the season. Then we will decide where it will be better to have the last part of the preparation.”

“Until Bad Gastein, we will not have other big race appointments, but probably only some small and short races to push the engines at the top for a good season start,” concludes Bruno Debertolis.