Vatternrundan 2014 opens for registration

The world's largest recreational bike ride, Vätternrundan in Sweden, will have a new registration procedure in place for the 2014 event.

Last year, it took just two hours and 45 minutes to fill all 21,000 places for the 300 km Vätternrundan ride when registration opened. With the high demand, the underlying IT infrastructure reached its capacity limit. While the number of places available for 2014 remains the same as the previous year, the system has now been redesigned and improved to ensure no cyclist misses out on a place due to technical hitches.

Pre-registrations started in September, where all your details will be stored so on the day of registration it will be easier to the enter button and be in. You can also enter a team of cyclists to ensure you get the same start time. Registrations will open on October 1 for the 150km Halvvättern and the all-female 100km ride Tjejvättern. Registrations for the main event, the 300km Vätternrundan, will open on November 4, at 19:00 hrs CET. Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Places have been set aside for international participants so that these are not disadvantaged the time difference or any language barriers.

"We are very keen to encourage international participation in Vätternrundan and want to ensure that overseas cyclists get a fair chance to enter," says Vätternrundan's managing director Eva-Lena Frick.

Large groups of more than 40 participants can make reservations before November 4 for an additional fee. To prevent that most attractive starting slots all go to pre-booked groups, no more than 50 per cent of the places for each hour of the start can be allocated this way.

Vätternrundan is the world's largest cycling event. The main event will be held 13-14 of June 2014, while Halvvättern and Tjejvättern will be held the weekend before, 7-8 of June. This year, over 30,000 cyclists participated in the three events, covering nearly seven million kilometres between them.

The event starts and finishes in Motala in south-central Sweden, halfway between Stockholm and Gothenburg. The 300 km ride circles the scenic Lake Vättern, Europe's fifth largest lake, while the other events take place on the eastern shores of the lake.

External link

Vatternrundan website