The importance of Vätternrundan would be impossible to exaggerate for Swedish cycling, at least without running the risk of hammering the keyboard into microplastics. Most roadies I know – myself included – got their first road bike to do this 315km event. And in many cases not even because the cycling itself appealed to them in the first place, but rather because they wanted to complete a so-called “Swedish Classic”. These include the Vätternrundan, Vasaloppet (on skis), Lidingöloppet (trail running) and Vansbrosimmet (river swimming). Unaware of the fact that in a few years they might consider it completely normal to have a bike more expensive than their car, they roll across the start line in Motala on the eastern shore of Lake Vättern, Europe’s sixth largest lake.
For many of these people, Vätternrundan thereafter becomes the focal point of their cycling calendar. Either because of affection, or because they cannot stop chasing the white whale of completing the event in ‘X’ number of hours – 7, 8, 12, 15, depending on the person. I