Vätternrundan 2020 cancelled. Vätternrundan’s decision is now final after the Board have considered all possible alternatives.
– An extremely tough decision, says Vätternrundan’s CEO Gunilla Brynell-Johansson. But the way things stand today we see no possibility to move forward and plan the event.
The spread of COVID-19 has had enormous consequences for society as a whole. Sweden and many other countries find themselves in an extremely precarious situation and at present no one can forsee when this will ease. With this in mind, on April 2nd, Vätternrundan’s board decided to cancel Vätternrundan aswell as the other events they arrange during the Bike Week in Motala..
– We are facing a situation that no one can predict the outcome of right now, says Gunilla Brynell-Johansson. The uncertainty as to when life can start to return to normal again is high.
– In view of this situation we have to take our responsibility and give our decision. We understand that there is no possibility for us to move forward and plan for this year’s Vätternrundan. There is a critical point in time where we must make that decision and unfortunately that time is now.
During the last few weeks Vätternrundan’s board have been weighing up all possibilities, including moving the events to later in the year. However, Vätternrundan is a massive event and many plans must be laid down way in advance. Which means that it is highly unlikely that it would be possible to implement the event later in the year.
– This is one of the factors that has led us to conclude that our only alternative is to cancel this year’s events. Our participants and our partners are entitled to know our decision so that they too can rearrange their plans, says Gunilla Brynell-Johansson.
Many of those signed up for Vätternrundan are in the middle of completing a ’Svensk Klassiker’, and our message to them is that next years Vätternrundan will count for your current ’Svensk Klassiker’. Vätternrundan will continue to support and encourage all the registered cyclists to keep on with their training, based of course on the continuous recommendations given by the Swedish Public Health Authority (Folkhälsomyndigheten).
– We shall continue to work hard via all our channels available, including social media, to encourage all cyclists in different ways, says Gunilla Brynell-Johansson. Exercise is of extreme importance for our health, as long as we can manage it in a responsible manner and without contributing to the spread of COVID-19.
– It feels incredibly hard to have been forced to make such a decision but now we can fully focus on making next year’s event the best ever and we hope that all our cyclists and partners will endeavour to join us in that pursuit.
