The first Vättern round was run in 1966. This year there will be none. Not on the country roads around Vättern anyway. Gathering 38,000 cyclists in one place does not work when a large part of our everyday lives are about stopping possible pathways of infection.
The organization behind the cycling week in Motala is trying to encourage cyclists to get out on the roads anyway.
- Everyone who wants to ride a bike around Sweden. Then you register this by submitting your route, says the CEO of Vätternrundan Gunilla Brynell-Johansson.
Everyone who is registered and has completed the 2020 race will receive a medal if you register their route on the Vätternrunda website. Both cycling out on the road and cycling indoors on a so-called trainer count.
The goal is to get people to continue with their exercise habits even though the whole cycle week in Motala is canceled.
Now the organizers start preparing for 2021 instead. Anyone who has signed up for the end of the year can get 50 percent of the registration fee back or it will be used as the base plate for payment for next year's run.