On Wednesday, the Finnish national cross-country skiing team headed to the first altitude training camp of the season in Italy.

The national team will be on a training camp for the next three weeks in the village of Passo Lavaze in northern Italy, about 1,800 meters above sea level. 

Many skiing enthusiasts know Passo Lavaze from Marcialonga. Cavalese, the finish town of the Ski Classics Pro Tour event, is just a few kilometers from Passo Lavaze.

“Passo Lavaze turned out to be an excellent training ground last year,” commented head coach Teemu Pasanen in the spring.

“Joni (Mäki) and Rise (Hakola) will not participate in the camp but will stay in Finland to train. Everyone else is involved,” confirms Pasanen to Maastohiihto.com.

Joni Mäki previously wrote on his Instagram account that his flu after Midsummer and its after-effects influenced the decision.

“Due to the respiratory symptoms after the flu, I will not go to the high-altitude camp with the national team in August, but I will stay in Finland to make sure that we can get the training rolling again as normal.”

The national team’s training camp in Italy ends on August 23. Iivo Niskanen will travel from Italy directly to Norway and will be there on August 25-27 for Toppidrettsveka.