Vätternrundan is a non-competitive event, and only measures the rider's own time using RF transponders on the helmet (mandatory equipment).

Vätternrundan has approximately nine stops offering food and beverages, and also first aid and free massage.

At the finish line riders are awarded a medal and a certificate of achievement, and offered a meal.

The event was founded by Sten-Otto Liljedahl, a physician specialising in sports medicine; he was team doctor for the Swedish national football side from 1957 to 1970.

He developed the idea of cycling around Lake Vättern while spending his summers in Motala, monitoring the effects of training, nutrition and exertion on the individuals participating in his trial runs.