Team Nordic Expérience has big ambitions. But for the Pro Team, there is extra pride when the skiers leave the team for another Pro Team.

Although the Team Nordic Expérience Pro Team Director hopes that the athletes thrive and have ambitions to compete individually and in the Pro Team competition in Ski Classics, it is also an honor for the team when they go to another team. 

“If the skiers leave the team, we’ve succeeded,” says Maxime Grenard to Langrenn.com. 

Maxime Grenard is the Pro Team Director for Team Nordic Expérience Coste – Fromageries Marcel Petite, France’s most prominent private cross-country skiing team. This year’s squad consists of a total of ten skiers, including two who focus mainly on traditional cross-country skiing. 

“Of course, I would like to keep my skiers in the team, but at the same time, it’s a sign of success when they leave the team. It means that they’ve either made one of the French national teams or been picked up by a Scandinavian team,” he explains. 

This happened last spring when the Norwegian Pro Team, Team Næringsbanken Stora Enso, signed with Thomas Joly. 

Also Read: Thomas Joly embraces new challenges with Team Næringsbanken Stora Enso

The 25-year-old had been part of Team Nordic Expérience since 2019, but this winter, he took a solid step forward with top 5, top 10, and top 15 finishes in the latter part of the Ski Classics Pro Tour season. This summer, Joly won Alliansloppet, finished second at Blink Classics, beating Petter Northug at the finish line, and was second in the long-distance race during Toppidrettsveka.

“I’ve taken new steps every year, and I feel I’ve made good progress with Team Nordic Expérience. So, when Team Næringsbanken Stora Enso contacted me at the end of the season, I was a little unsure. But it opens up new opportunities for me to get into a big Norwegian team, both athletically and financially. Now, I have personal sponsors who help me, and thanks to them, I can focus 100 percent on cross-country skiing. So, I’m excited about the season ahead,” says Joly, and reveals some of his ambitions: 

“I’ve been on the podium in three big, important roller ski races this summer, and I know I’m strong enough. So now I hope to be at the front of the pack in all the races and be on the podium in at least one of the Ski Classics races this winter.” 

Also Read: Thomas Joly winner of Challengers Alliansloppet 2023

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Springboard to the World Cup

The Pro Team also offers an attractive landing spot for skiers going in the opposite direction. 

Sabin Coupat joined Team Nordic Experience last spring after losing his place in the French U23 national team. He is now formally too old for the U23 team but was not offered a place on the elite national team. The 23-year-old says he is enjoying his time with Team Nordic Expérience, but in a good way, he hopes he won’t be there for long. 

“Team Nordic Expérience is the team in France with the best offer outside the national team. They have a sporting program that allows me to continue to develop and take new steps. So, my ambition is to improve so much that I get a place on the French elite national team,” says Coupat. 

“But even though the World Cup is my main goal, this team is the place for me right now, even though most of the people here are focusing on long-distance skiing. I get good matching here, and at the training sessions, I get to work on some technical elements that I don’t do much of in my daily training. And I can see that I’m making progress,” he says. 

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David and Goliath

Langrenn.com met Team Nordic Expérience in early October at the team’s training camp in Font Romeu in the Pyrenees, where they trained at altitudes of up to 2000 meters. 

But it’s not the altitude effect they were chasing at the week-long gathering in the small town high up in the mountains. To achieve a physiological altitude effect, they would have to be there for three times as long, and the team doesn’t have the budget. 

Grenard says that although all the skiers on the team have to pay a fee to take part, his team operates on a budget that is only a fraction of what the big Norwegian and Swedish Pro Teams have to work with.

This means, among other things, that Team Nordic Expérience must do more of what the big teams can pay others to do, that they have to work a little harder to find the cheapest travel options, often have to live a little further away from the arena and with a little more people together when they travel around to races in the winter. 

When they are at a training camp, they try to find cheaper alternatives that still provide just as good a training outcome and that they usually don’t travel so far for a camp. 

In that sense, this year’s fall camp in Font Romeu in the far southeast of France was extra exotic for Team Nordic Expérience, mainly based 1000km further north. It had been three years since they last attended a camp so far away. 

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One man show

Budget constraints also mean that Team Nordic Expérience has minimal support staff compared to its competitors. 

Grenard is the only full-time employee on the team and the only one on the payroll. Therefore, he also wears several hats: Besides being Pro Team Director and manager, Grenard is also a coach for all the team’s skiers, wax tech, ski tester and equipment manager, logistics manager, and driver. But he’s not a chef. 

“When Maxime does all the technical and administrative work and facilitates us in all other areas, we have time to cook,” said the skiers, adding that they also do the dishes. 

Turning it into a competitive advantage

Overall, Grenard feels that Team Nordic Expérience manages to turn the challenges into a competitive advantage and that they have a chance to assert themselves – even against the big teams with bigger budgets.

“Of course, it’s frustrating at times. But it means we must be twice as creative to compete on a level playing field. And it’s inspiring and motivating to see what we can achieve with the budget we have, and how well we perform despite having far fewer resources,” says Maxime Grenard, and adds:

“The extra challenges we have mean that the athletes have to invest even more in the team for us to function as well as possible. It does something to the mindset and attitude of the whole team. The athletes are extra motivated and willing to give everything, both athletically and for the community. We train well, we help each other, and we pull together wherever needed, both on and off the ski tracks. As a coach, it’s a dream to work with them.”

Read More – Team Nordic Expérience: Pro Team presentation Season XV