Last season, Team Futura Trentino Alta Quota debuted as a Visma Ski Classics Pro Team and finished in the 25^thposition in the Pro Team competition. Now that their second season is about to start, Pro Team Director Andrea Buttaboni tells Pro XC Skiing that he and the team athletes are hoping to improve their status in the team ranking.

“The goal for next season is to have better results, to improve pro team ranking and individual results of the team members”, says Andrea.

According to Andrea, Team Futura Trentino Alta Quota had a productive summer training period, and they got good results in a roller-skiing race in Italy, which makes them feel confident about their chancer for the season that is about to start.

“The summer season was great. We were able to get all athletes together for training on a few occasions, and we even organized a roller-ski race in Trentino, with a sprint in Trento for the first day and an uphill race to Monte Bondone on the second day. There were almost 400 participants”, Andrea Buttaboni says to Pro XC Skiing.

Now that the start of the long-distance ski season is just a few days ahead, all Team Futura Trentino Alta Quota athletes have gathered for a training camp in Val Martello, very close to the location of the new Visma Ski Classics event Reschenseerennen. 

“This training camp is very good because we have the opportunity to have everyone present for some training on snow, and to test some of the equipment for the winter. We also had the opportunity to train with our new athletes. We have a new female athlete on the team, Sophia Innerkofler. She is only 19 years old, and she will try to devote herself to long distances. We believe she can have good results in the future. We also have two new boys in the team: the Italian Emanuele Bosin and Swedish Rickard Ericsson, who lives and breathes cross-country skiing, and we hope to help him to meet his high ambitions,” Andrea shares with Pro XC Skiing.

Magdalena Wierer steps into Visma Ski Classics

Team Futura Trentino Alta Quota wants to inspire Italian skiers to enter the world of long-distance skiing, and they are attracting athletes from biathlon, a sport that is big in Italy, thanks to the success of the national team. One of those athletes is Magdalena Wierer, a biathlete who wants to devote herself to long-distance racing and decided to join Team Futura Trentino Alta Quota to smoothen her transition.

“This summer, I decided to leave biathlon because I wanted to establish my own identity. I got tired of being compared to my sister, so after hearing about this long-distance team, I asked to join them. I will start with some long-distance races in skating technique, and after getting a hang of my performance in longer distances, I may try some classic races. I think that double-poling technique is amazing, and I want to use it in the future,” Magdalena shares to Pro XC Skiing, referring to her sister Dorothea.

Magdalena announced her retirement from biathlon this fall, which made headlines all over the skiing world. At that time, she admitted that being the younger sister to her famous athlete became a burden for her, and she also fought against various illnesses that prevented her from reaching her full potential. She is now entering a new and exciting world that can offer her a fresh start towards the new identity she referred earlier.

Andrea Buttaboni feels happy about having the opportunity to assist her in her move to the unknown territory. He believes Magdalena will perform well at skating events and says that he is very curious to know how she can handle the double-poling technique. 

“Who knows, maybe she will eventually become a good double-poler,” Andrea concludes with a wondering tone in his voice.