As usual there was plenty of interest in next year's Vasaloppet 90 km when registration for the Winter Week opened two weeks ago. A few remaining spots have now become available, so take this chance to snatch a start place in the 96th Vasaloppet!
For the tenth year in a row Vasaloppet had over fifty thousand participants who managed to complete their Winter Week races. This year 51,878 (counting all five team members in Stafettvasan) reached the finish in Mora. They skied a combined three million kilometres! 3,135 participants broke off their races and in total there were 62,951 registered participants, counting 591 participants in the Barnens Vasalopp children's ski race.
Vasaloppet 2919 offered solo victories in both the men's and women's class. Norwegian Tore Björset Berdal broke away with barely five kilometres left and could hold his ground for a victory in the men's class and Britta Johansson Norgren won the ladies' class after having been alone in the lead for almost the whole race. – I went all in. It was all or nothing, says Berdal about his victory push. – It was really tough today, but then it's even more enjoyable when it all works out, says Johansson Norgren after her second Vasaloppet victory.
Team Koteng had a glorious day in Vasaloppet as the team’s pro skiers managed to lock all podium places. Tore Bjørseth Berdal broke away five kilometres before the finish and won the race while Britta Johansson Norgren, Lager 157 Ski Team, left her opponents behind early to win the women’s race.
The 95th Vasaloppet will start in Sälen on Sunday, March 3, 2019, at 08:00. Vasaloppet is fully booked, as usual, which means 15,800 registered participants. In total around 62,000 participants have registered so far for the Vasaloppet Winter Week 2019 races. This is the 42nd year that Vasaloppet will be broadcast live on Swedish Television. Here is some background information for the world's biggest cross-country ski race.
Britta Johansson Norgren, Sollefteå Skidor IF, won the 31st Tjejvasan one second ahead of Lina Korsgren, Åre Längdskidklubb, and four seconds ahead of Katerina Smutná, the Czech Republic. "I felt it had paid off when I pushed during the race. I had a great amount of energy," says Britta after her third Tjejvasan victory.
On Tuesday (2019-02-19) at midnight online registration closes for Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2019. After that you need to register on location. Yes, you can actually register all the way up until the start if there are places available. As per tradition we will present some geographic registration statistics for Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2019.
Lovely news to get around Valentine's Day: All you need is love… and Vasaloppet! Getting married after finishing a ski race during Vasaloppet's Winter Week turns out to be a popular idea. So far 14 couples have notified that they're ready to say "I do" to each other during the world premiere of these ski-in nuptials in forefathers' tracks. "It's so fun, we've had to recruit more priests for the Winter Week," says Matts Sandström, the vicar of Mora.
The rule that adds a time penalty of 15 minutes if you are found to have littered where not allowed during your race is now in its third year. Last year, monitoring was strengthened with an increased number of inspectors, using better equipment, and Vasaloppet's Winter Week 2019 continues along the same track.
Completing a Vasaloppet race is an achievement in itself. But for 277 registrants, so far, it's not enough. They're aiming to complete three Vasaloppet races in one calendar year by skiing, cycling and running 90 or 45 km in forefathers' tracks in 2019.
