Joachim Thrane, Danish Skimarathon Team, was the best-finishing Danish athlete racing Vasaloppet in 10 years. ProXCskiing spoke to the skier to know more about his challenges and ambitions as a Pro Tour athlete from a country where the sport is not that popular.

The Danish skier Joachim Thrane managed to have a good day at this year’s Vasaloppet, becoming the 9th best Danish skier ever at the prestigious Swedish long-distance ski race, having the best placement for Denmark in 10 years (124th place), and the 4th fastest race ever done by a Dane (4:01:35.3).

“I had a good race in general. I could maybe have wished for a faster start, but races are never perfect,” says the Danish athlete during an interview for ProXCskiing.com. 

“This was the first time in four years of racing that there were no broken poles or large crashes in front of me, so it is really satisfying.”

During the last editions of Vasaloppet, Joachim had some issues with nutrition during the race. But this year, he was able to manage his carbohydrate intake the right way, enabling him to have a good performance.

“I think my main challenge is always hydration and fueling during the race,” he says, admitting that this time he was able to feed himself better than most times. But nutrition is not the only challenge for Joachim. The Danish skier often struggles due to too much clothing, but also this year, he has managed to handle the right clothing strategy in a better way.

Vasaloppet might have been a good race for Joachim, but the Danish skier still has some ambitions for the following events. 

“I am hoping to do some good races at the end of the season as well. Birkebeinerrennet, Reistadløpet and Summit 2 Senja. Especially the last two.”

When Joachim is not training or racing, he works as a pharmaceutical company’scompany’s process development scientist. 

“It is not that easy, but it often comes with structure, rules, and trying to make things easier.” 

For example, Joachim commutes to work on rollerskis, completing 6 hours of training. Then he also has training sessions with his club and strength sessions at the gym.

Some weeks might be busy, especially if he must fit races into his calendar. Joachim often leaves work on Thursday or Friday evenings and travels to race locations. Then, after the race, he must be back to be at work on Monday morning. 

“It is a bit tough, but also a way of making it fit,” he says.

Motivation reinforced after the first season in a Pro Team

This has been Danish Skimarathon Team’sTeam’s first season as a Pro Team in the Ski Classics circuit, but Joachim believes it has already paved a long way. Despite being classified as the 34th Pro Team, in a total of 35, this Danish squad has already shown that they can compete in the Pro Tour.

“I think it has been a huge experience, and we have become much wiser on the setup and what to consider. We have performed better than we had feared, and though we are not far from the bottom in the team ranking, I believe we have shown we can compete at the Pro Tour level,” Joachin says.

And while the Danish Pro Team has shown that it is possible to compete at the highest level of long-distance skiing, they are not sure if the interest in the sport is growing in Denmark. However, Joachim sees a positive trend: 

“The Danish XC Skiing group on Facebook has grown dramatically.”

Next up is Birkebeinerrennet on Saturday, March 18. The race marks the twelfth Ski Classics event and the fourth Grand Classics Season XIV.

The Season XIV of Ski Classics Pro Tour consists of 14 events on 10 event weekends in 6 different countries. 

Ski Classics Pro Tour Season XIV (2022/2023)

• Event 1: December 10, 2022 – Bad Gastein PTT, Bad Gastein, Austria, 15km
• Event 2: December 11, 2022 – Bad Gastein Criterium, Bad Gastein, Austria, 35km
• Event 3: December 17, 2022 – La Venosta Criterium, Val Venosta, Italy, 36km 
• Event 4: January 14, 2023 – Pustertaler Ski Marathon, Sexten, Italy, 62km
• Event 5: January 15, 2023 – Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge, Niederdorf, Italy, 32km
• Event 6: January 21, 2023 – Engadin La Diagonela, Engadin Valley, Switzerland, 48km 
• Event 7: January 29, 2023 – Marcialonga, Trentino, Italy, 70km
• Event 8: February 12, 2023 – Jizerská50, Bedřichov, Czech Republic, 50km
• Event 9: February 18, 2023 – Grönklitt Criterium, Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 50km
• Event 10: February 19, 2023 – Grönklitt ITT, Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 15km
• Event 11: March 5, 2023 – Vasaloppet, Sälen-Mora, Sweden, 90km
• Event 12: March 18, 2023 – Birkebeinerrennet, Rena-Lillehammer, Norway, 54km
• Event 13: April 1, 2023 – Reistadløpet, Setermoen-Bardufoss, Norway, 40km
• Event 14: April 2, 2023 – Summit 2 Senja, Bardufoss- Finnsnes, Norway, 67km

More information about the Ski Classics Pro Tour you can find at skiclassics.com.