CykelVasan 2014 – Sweden’s biggest MTB race – is imminent

The Vasaloppet Summer Week 2014 starts with CykelVasan on 15–16 August and is followed by the running relay race VasaStafetten and the new running race UltraVasan on 23 August. Read on for a wealth of information, facts and statistics ahead of the sixth CykelVasan.

Friday 15 August is the day of the youth cycle race UngdomsCykelVasan, CykelVasan 30 and CykelVasan 45. All these shorter races start in Oxberg. And on Saturday 16 August the élite event CykelVasan 90 gets off to an early start at 8am in Sälen.

Registration situation 13.08.2014
CykelVasan 90 2014 was fully subscribed within 3 minutes 21 seconds in September 2013. This means 12,000 participants registered for the race between Sälen and Mora. The total number of participants registered for the four CykelVasan 2014 MTB races is now 16,708 – a record! There are still places left for the shorter races. You can register in person for these races on site during Thursday and Friday.

Registered for UngdomsCykelVasan: 132
Registered for CykelVasan 30: 2,025
Registered for CykelVasan 45: 2,551
Registered for CykelVasan 90: 12,000

13.3% of the participants registered for Saturday’s CykelVasan 90 are women. (The total proportion of women for the whole of CykelVasan is 20.3%.)

Countries
The four CykelVasan 2014 races involve participants from 30 different countries, including Sweden. The five biggest countries (apart from Sweden) are Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Holland. About 750 Norwegian participants have registered.

Swedish favourites
Sweden’s biggest name in mountain biking, Alexandra Engen (the winner of CykelVasan 2013), has taken time out because of burnout. But on the other hand many other riders are on good form. Two previous CykelVasan winners – Matthias Wengelin (the winner of CykelVasan 2009) and Jennie Stenerhag (the winner of CykelVasan 2012) – both won Grenserittet on 3 August.

And what can the leaders in the cycling event Långloppscupen, Fredrik Ericsson (the winner of CykelVasan 2013) and Hanna Bergman (the winner of CykelVasan 2009) do? While the elite Swedish cyclists were competing in the Finnmarksturen MTB race last weekend, Emil Lindgren and Jenny Rissveds were in the USA for World Cup competitions. Jenny won the World Cup sprint last Friday, and came fourth in the U23 Class cross country race on Sunday. Emil came sixth in the sprint and 19th in the cross country race. For his four starts in CykelVasan Emil has incidentally come sixth, second, third and fourth!

Previous CykelVasan winners, men
2009 Matthias Wengelin, Cykloteket RT, 2.43.27
2010 Magnus Darvell, Team Kalas/Pedalogerna, 2.39.00
2011 Jesper Dahlström, Motala AIF Cycle Club, 2.47.32
2012 Jesper Dahlström, Team Cykelcity, 2.47.20
2013 Fredrik Ericsson, CK Cykelcity.se, 2.43.01

Previous CykelVasan winners, ladies
2009 Hanna Bergman, Falu CK, 3.09.05
2010 Emmy Thelberg, Härnösands CK, 2.54.53
2011 Pia Sundstedt, Finland, 2.56.19
2012 Jennie Stenerhag, Falu CK, 3.02.06
2013 Alexandra Engen, GHOST Factory RT/Jönköpings CK, 2.55.37

Participant statistics over the years (all distances):
CykelVasan 2009: Registered/Starting/Finishing: 1,911/1,760/1,747
CykelVasan 2010: Registered/Starting/Finishing: 4,479/4,077/4,045
CykelVasan 2011: Registered/Starting/Finishing: 7,874/7,180/7,031
CykelVasan 2012: Registered/Starting/Finishing: 12,0840/10,0629/10,475
CykelVasan 2013: Registered/Starting/Finishing: 16,855/14,811/14,546
CykelVasan 2014: Registered/Starting/Finishing: 16,708

Celebs registered
Just as Vasaloppet does in the winter, CykelVasan attract many celebs. The following are some of the celebs registered:
Frida Wallberg, former professional boxer
Renata Chlumska, adventurer
Fredrik Bauer, slalom skier and Olympic medallist (YOG)
Björn Becksmo, Sveriges Television reporter and cycling enthusiast
Kristina Bergstrand, former hockey player
Maria Pietelä-Holmner, alpine skier
Jesper Börjesson, TV4 anchor
Tomas Gustafson, three Olympic Golds in skating
Daniel & Henrik Sedin, NHL hockey-playing twins

CykelVasaSprinten
CykelVasaSprinten has been part of the Vasaloppet Summer Week for several years, but in 2014 its status is undergoing a change, and instead of a demonstration competition it will become a fully fledged part of the Vasaloppet cycle races, as a prologue to CykelVasan. It will take the form of a short race of about 15-20 minutes with a joint start, and the first person to the finishing line wins. The competition will feature one ladies and one men’s class. The competition will be taking place on Friday at 3pm in Lindvallen, Sälen.

Kranskulla and kransmas
This year’s kranskulla and kransmas – who bestow laurel wreaths on the winners – are Lisa Englund and Daniel Svensson respectively, both from Mora.

News about the track
The track for CykelVasan is constantly being inspected, and there have been major investments to make it safer and better. A new entrance to the checkpoint in Smågan has been built to make it easier for the checkpoint staff to do their job and make it safer for the cyclists going through the checkpoint.

At the Evertsberg Lakes (Evertsbergssjöarna) you no longer have to cycle on Vasaloppsvägen and can instead go cross-country.
The lane there used to be in Oxberg to get car drivers through the rapid stream of cyclists is being replaced by a cycle bridge over Vasaloppsvägen.

Apart from this CykelVasan 2014 will be identical to the 2013 race as regards the course. For CykelVasan 90 this means about 46 km of forest road/Vasaloppet track, about 37 km of gravel and about 12 km of asphalt – making a total of around 95 km.

New cycle sponsor
The cycle manufacturer Merida is a new partner of Vasaloppet for the upcoming three years. Together Merida and Vasaloppet have set ambitious goals in terms of getting Swedes to cycle more to keep fit, at the same time as wanting to be involved in developing the CykelVasan concept. With its long and successful history of building the brand in Norway, Merida is now ready to export this success story to Sweden.

Direct broadcasts and summaries from the Vasaloppet Summer Week 2014

Vasaloppsradion is broadcasting directly from the Vasaloppet Summer Week 2014 in Mora/Siljan area on 94.1 MHz, in Oxberg/Älvdalen on 89.1 MHz and in Sälen on 107.5 MHz. Plus web radio on www.vasaloppsradion.se – and a service for mobiles:
Friday 15 August 12-6pm: Direct broadcast from the museum Vasaloppets Hus in Mora.
Saturday 16 August from 7.45am: CykelVasan 90.
Saturday 23 August from 4.45am: UltraVasan 45 and 90 plus VasaStafetten.

Live streaming
Vasaloppet’s large-image production at the finishing line is being streamed live on www.vasaloppet.se – finishes, ceremonies, advertising, GPS, interviews, entertainment etc. will be shown. Dates and preliminary times:
Friday 15 August 9am-6pm: UngdomsCykelVasan, CykelVasan 30 and 45
Saturday 16 August 9am-6pm: CykelVasan 90
Saturday 23 August 9am-9pm: VasaStafetten, UltraVasan 45 and 90

Vasalopps-TV comprises 15 minutes produced every day and to be viewed at www.vasaloppet.se. The programme, which can of course also been seen afterwards, will include a summary of the day, traffic information etc. Vasalopps-TV can also be viewed on YouTube: www.youtube.com/vasaloppet

Sveriges Television (SVT) has covered Vasaloppet for half a century, and for the sixth CykelVasan in 2014 SVT Sport will once again be on location with a team of reporters. The programme will be broadcast on the channels SVT1 and SVT Play on Sunday 17 August at 5:25pm, i.e. the day after CykelVasan 90, and will focus both on the elite cyclists and on the keep fitters. www.svt.se/sport

Coming arrangements in Vasalopps Arena:

Vasaloppets summer week 2014 (MTB and running):
Fri 15 Aug: CykelVasan 30. 30 km. Start Oxberg.
Fri 15 Aug: UngdomsCykelVasan. 30 km. Start Oxberg.
Fri 15 Aug: CykelVasan 45. 45 km. Start Oxberg.
Sat 16 Aug: CykelVasan 90. 95 km. Start Sälen. (12,000 entries. FULL 22/09/2013)
Sat 23 Aug: UltraVasan 45. 45 km. Running race. Start Oxberg
Sat 23 Aug: UltraVasan 90. 90 km. Running race. Start Sälen. (1,000 entries. FULL 22/09/2013)
Sat 23 Aug: VasaStafetten. 4,5–15,1 km. Running relay race for 10 person teams. Start Sälen.

Vasaloppets winter week 2015 (cross country skiing):
Fri 27 Feb: KortVasan. 30 km. Start Oxberg.
Sat 28 Feb: TjejVasan. 30 km. Start Oxberg.
Sun 1 Mar: UngdomsVasan. 3, 5, 7 or 9 km. Start Mora Ski Stadium.
Sun 1 Mar: Öppet Spår Sunday. 90 km. Start Sälen. (10,000 entries. FULL 21/05/2014)
Mon 2 Mar: Öppet Spår Monday. 90 km. Start Sälen.
Tue 3 Mar: HalvVasan. 45 km. Start Oxberg.
Fri 6 Mar: StafettVasan. 24, 24, 14, 9 and 19 km. Start Sälen. (8,000 entries. FULL 16/03/2014)
Sun 8 Mar: Vasaloppet. 90 km. Start Sälen. (15,800 entries. FULL 16/03/2014)

High resolution photos from Vasaloppet are here:
www.mynewsdesk.com/se/pressroom/vasaloppet/image/list

Or find photos below in this e-mail: "Relaterat material. Bilder (Photos)."

Text and photos may be freely published.

For further information

Ola Granfeldt, PR Manager
Tel: +46 (0)250-392 77
Mobile: +46 (0)733-550 620
E-mail: ola.granfeldt@vasaloppet.se

More about Vasaloppet?
www.vasaloppet.se
Press room: mynewsdesk.com/se/pressroom/vasaloppet
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Instagram: @vasaloppet
Twitter: @vasaloppet

Vasaloppet is the world’s biggest organiser of recreational races, all year round. Vasaloppets winter week with its cross country skiing and the summer week with mountainbike cycling and running attracted during 2013 a total of over 88,000 registered participants. Since the beginning in 1922 over one million participants have passed under the classic finish portal in Mora. Vasaloppet is a non-profit making organisation owned by IFK Mora and Sälens IF. An engine for public health and organisational activities, in the footsteps our forefathers for the victories of tomorrow!