The Tour de Ski and the Val di Fiemme pre-Olympics parade at Palazzo Trentini

In the presence of Soini and Gerosa (PAT), the highlights of the season are presented

Convocations are on the line for the Tour and Dietmar Nöckler has a bib for the Rampa

Speakers agree: volunteers’ true heart and committee strength for every event

It was in the welcoming Aurora Room of Palazzo Trentini, right in the centre of Trento, that the Tour de Ski and the test-events for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games of Milano Cortina 2026 in Val di Fiemme paraded this morning.

In these busy days, the Provincial Council President, Claudio Soini, and the Vice-President of the Provincial Council and Councillor for Sport, Francesca Gerosa, did not fail to intervene and offer their greetings. They recalled the Province's support for virtuous realities such as Val di Fiemme, which provides an important showcase for promoting Trentino through top-level sports events.

During the conference, the three days of the Tour de Ski were presented, with the 19th edition that will end, as per tradition, in Val di Fiemme from January 3 to 5. As the President of the organising committee Nordic Ski Val di Fiemme, Pietro De Godenz, remembered: ‘These are crucial test-events for our path towards Milano Cortina 2026. The beloved Sprint race will be back, and then the dynamism of the Skiathlon will be all to experience, with the athletes changing equipment in the middle of the race to tackle the first part in classic technique and the second in free technique'. The grand finale with the unmissable Final Climb (10 km FT), on which the Italian Dietmar Nöckler expressed himself ‘It is hard even just watching the final Climb on the TV…let alone climbing the Alpe Cermis with skis!’ For Nöckler the convocation for the national team is still up in the air, but the organising committee has already reserved him a bib for the ‘Rampa con i Campioni presented by Cassa Rurale Val di Fiemme’, the appreciated open race that anticipates the ascent of the big of the World Cup and that every year sees the participation of great interpreters of the narrow skis and amateurs who experience the thrill of climbing Cermis between two wings of the crowd. It is still too early to know the official convocations, but we know from Markus Cramer's staff that there will be a contingent of 20 athletes defending the Italian colours for the Tour de Ski: 8 women and 12 men, among whom Nicole Monsorno, Caterina Ganz, Anna Comarella, Federica Cassol and Nadine Laurent have already been confirmed, along with Federico Pellegrino, Elia Barp, Michael Hellweger, Paolo Ventura and Martino Carollo.

Coop Fiemme president and vice-president of the Federazione Trentina della Cooperazione (Trentino Federation of Cooperatives) and member of the local OC Paola Dal Sasso also brought her greetings, reinforcing the link between Coop and the Tour de Ski. She was also echoed by Raffaella Podetti, vice-president of the Trentino FISI Committee, who added: ‘Through these events, our federation celebrates excellence and more, promotes the territory and provides sources of inspiration to all fans and the new generations who attend the races.

The conference was also an opportunity to recall the rich programme of side events proposed on the occasion of the Tour de Ski, which, as committee representative Matilde Vanzo recalled, ‘serve to make a sporting competition a truly emotional experience, capable of leaving an indelible memory in the minds and hearts of those who experience it’. Coop Mini World Cup, Nordic Après-ski, Tour del Gusto and Rampa con i Campioni are just some of the initiatives proposed by the ‘Nordic’ team that will enrich the 19th Tour de Ski in Trentino.

Ample and rightful space was reserved for the praise of the Val di Fiemme volunteers, who ‘like a tireless army’, in the words of the coordinator and vice-president of the committee Mauro Dezulian, are ready to take the field in their hundreds. ‘Our volunteers show us on every occasion not only the passion they have for the area and the sport but also the professionalism they have acquired over the years and the dedication with which they apply their enviable skills,’ the deputy added. Confirming the commitment of the Fiemme staff, the local OC was symbolically re-awarded by Diego Decarli and Franco Danieli the ‘Testimone del Volontariato 2024’ (Witness of Volunteering 2024), an acknowledgement received last November at the Presidency of the Senate of the Republic in Rome by Nordic Ski Val di Fiemme in synergy with the OC of Anterselva (Biathlon) for their commitment to their respective communities.

The sporting season of Val di Fiemme will be long and intense: it starts with the Tour de Ski (January 3-5) and it continues with the test-events of the Paralympics Milano Cortina 2026 of the Paralympic Biathlon (January 29-30) and Paralympic Cross-Country Skiing (February 1-2) until September 2025 when from 18 to 21 the ski jumping hill in Predazzo will be inaugurated on the occasion of the summer World Cup races of ski jumping and Nordic combined and the World Cup finals of roller-skiing in the original Fiemme Summer FIS Nordic Festival.

Appointment with the Nordic skiing sporting events in Val di Fiemme: it starts on January 3 with the Tour de Ski!

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