Vätternrundan
Bicycle race in Sweden / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Vätternrundan is a 315 km (196 mi)[1] (300 km (190 mi) before 2020) cyclosportive event held annually over two weekends in June in Sweden. In 2011, 27,973 cyclists passed the finish line; 18,272 on the 300 km (190 mi) course, 3,686 on the 150 km (93 mi) course, and 6,015 on the 100 km (62 mi) course). The 315 km course circles Lake Vättern, starting and finishing in the town of Motala. Approximately 20 percent of the participants are non-Swedish and in 2011, 37 nations were represented on the course.
Race details | |
---|---|
Date | mid-June |
Region | Sweden |
Discipline | cyclosportive |
Type | one-day |
History | |
First edition | 1966 (1966) |
For the 2012 event, registration for the main event was limited to a maximum of 23,000 participants.
The cyclists start in groups of 60 or 70, in a two-minute interval between groups. The first group starts at 7:30 pm on Friday and the last group starts at about 5:30 am on Saturday. In 2010, a new element was introduced as the number of faster cyclists have increased: groups of cyclists aiming for completing the event in less than 9 hours can start between 9:00–9:30 am on Saturday morning. In 2011, 720 cyclists took advantage of this possibility. By allowing these cyclists to start later means that they will have fewer cyclists to pass, thus lowering the risk of incidents and accidents. The course has to be finished by midnight on Saturday.
Vätternrundan is a non-competitive event, and only measures the rider's own time using RF transponders on the helmet (mandatory equipment). An unsorted list of starting times, checkpoints passed and finishing times is published on the website after the event. This type of event is called a motionslopp (cyclosportive) in Sweden.
Vätternrundan has approximately nine stops offering food and beverages, and also first aid and free massage. At the finish line riders are awarded a medal and a certificate of achievement, and offered a meal. For safety reasons support cars and personal resupply stops are prohibited. Cyclists returning home by car are prohibited from using their cars within six hours after having finished the event, since fatigue has caused crashes—even fatal ones. The police perform spot checks of drivers after the ride.