This Norwegian Pro Team doubles its roster for this winter’s ski season: snatched a top athlete from Petter Northug’s Ski Classics Pro Team and a World Cup skier from Spain.

The Norwegian Pro Team, Team Coop Madshus, doubles its roster ahead of the 2023/24 season: It signs two strong skiers on the men’s side and secures a new major sponsor and equipment supplier.

On the skiing side, the team, now called Team Coop Madshus, has brought in Spanish World Cup skier Imanol Rojo and Mathias Aas Rolid, who made his debut in Ski Classics last year with Team Næringsbanken Stora Enso.

Read More: Kicked out of the national team – lives dream moment towards the 2025 World Championships.

Pro Team Director Petter Soleng Skinstad is delighted with the new signings. 

“Mathias and Imanol are two of our best friends, and we know what they stand for, both on and off the tracks. When these two were available and interested in joining the team, and the opportunity presented itself, there was never any doubt they would get the offer,” says Skinstad to Langrenn.com. 

However, the two recruits have slightly different personal ambitions. 

“All in” for long-distance skiing: “I’ll be hard to beat”

Rolid is “all in” for long-distance skiing. The 27-year-old from Norway was initially in negotiations with Petter Northug’s Team Janteloppet but ended up signing a contract with Team Coop Madshus, Petter Soleng Skinstad’s Pro Team. The two namesakes are also training buddies and colleagues as expert commentators in cross-country skiing on TV2. 

“I chose to go for Team Coop Madshus because it gives me a safe and good framework for the winter,” says Rolid, highlighting the team’s main sponsors as solid players with long experience in the industry. 

“It means a lot for my commitment. I’m going full speed towards Ski Classics, which gives me extra confidence and motivation,” Rolid says.

Rolid debuted in the Ski Classic Pro Tour last year and ended the ski season with a victory in the Ski Classics Challengers event Fossavatnsgangan in Iceland, where he beat the veteran in his new team by over two and a half minutes. 

Also Read: Aas Rolid and Kälin winners of Fossavatnsgangan 2023

This summer, Rolid also went straight onto the podium in another Ski Classics Challengers event, Alliansloppet. In Sweden’s 48-kilometer roller ski race, he was three seconds behind winner Thomas Joly but ahead of the entire World Cup elite and the established Pro Team athletes. This is undeniably a good starting point for the coming season, and he sets the bar high.

“I want to be consistently in the top 15, but my goal is to be able to fight for podium places. I know that on a day when everything is right, I can step up to the podium, even on snow. If I’m fit when the sprint starts, I’m hard to beat,” says Rolid to Langrenn.com. 

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Aiming for the 2025 World Championships

Spaniard Imanol Rojo plans to focus on long-distance and traditional cross-country skiing, with the 2025 World Championships in Trondheim as the overall goal. In this context, Rojo sees long-distance skiing as an essential arena for development and a way to develop in traditional cross-country skiing. 

“Helping Imanol to continue his development in the World Cup, with the World Championships in Trondheim as a natural goal, while at the same time developing his double poling through long-distance skiing made it easy to offer him a place on the team,” says Skintad. 

Four plus two

In addition to the two new signings, Team Coop Madshus’s squad consists of brothers Petter and Mårten Soleng Skinstad, who continue from last year’s line-up. 

The team has also signed two female athletes, Marta Cester and Caroline Madsen, who will compete in some Ski Classics races for Team Coop Madshus.

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Three important goals

Team veteran Petter Skinstad explains that the team has three key goals.

The skiers in Team Coop Madshus are naturally pursuing solid placings in Ski Classics and other races, individually and in the Pro Team competition. 

However, the team’s athletes will also work to promote cross-country skiing and physical activity among Coop’s members and employees, contributing to better public health. They will also collaborate closely with Madshus in equipment development and visibility. 

“As the name implies, Team Coop Madshus is a collaboration that not only involves the team working closely with Coop to activate employees and members through cross-country skiing and physical activity but also working closely with Madshus in developing and marketing new equipment.” 

“The difference from last year is that we now have more athletes pulling in the same direction, which means we can do an even better job for Coop, Madshus, and the team’s other partners,” Skinstad tells Langrenn.com.

“This involves activities, development, and marketing, in addition to good performances with skis, roller skis, and running shoes on their feet.” 

In September, the team won the premiere edition of the international team competition Marcialonga Running Trophy in northern Italy, which Marcialonga organized. 

Which events will be the most important for you this winter? 

“The team will participate in all the Ski Classics races this winter, and for Mathias and myself, that will be the season’s main goal. We will also participate in some long-distance races outside Ski Classics, which will be important. Our ambition is to improve on previous years, and then the results can be outstanding,” says Petter Soleng Skinstad.

What will it take to achieve these ambitions? 

“We’ve spent a lot of time putting the team in place and doing what it takes to get the wheels turning. At the same time, we’ve done a good job of training. We must continue this work up to the start of the season and well into the season to achieve the goals we have set ourselves in the new year.” 

What about the remaining athletes on the squad? 

“Imanol will compete in the World Cup, with the Tour de Ski as one of his main goals for the winter, while Mårten will primarily compete in traditional cross-country skiing through the Norwegian Cup, Scandinavian Cup, national championships, and other races in Norway and the Nordic region.” 

What are you most looking forward to about the coming season? 

“We’re looking forward to ski racing and appreciate the opportunity to follow our dreams. At the same time, we appreciate the collaboration with our partners, where we get to help spread the joy of skiing and develop the next generation of ski equipment. That’s what motivates us!”

Read More: Team Coop Madshus – Pro Team presentation Season XV.