Vasaloppet is an annual long distance cross-country ski race held on the first Sunday of March. The 90 km course starts in the village of Berga, just south of Sälen in western Dalarna, Sweden, and ends in the town of Mora in the central part of the province.

The race was inspired by a notable journey King Gustav Vasa made from Mora to Sälen when he was fleeing from Christian II's soldiers during the winter of 1520–1521 in the beginning of the Swedish War of Liberation. According to legend, he fled on skis. The modern competition started in 1922 and it has been a part of the Worldloppet events since 1979.

Vasaloppet is the oldest cross-country ski race in the world as well as the one with the highest number of participants. In the past it was also the longest race, until it was surpassed by Pendlerrennet. The race is organized by the non-profit organization Vasaloppsföreningen Sälen-Mora that was registered with the Swedish Companies Registration Office in 1992 and is owned by two local sports clubs, IFK Mora and Sälens IF. The organization has approximately 35-year-round employees who work with planning, preparing and developing the events.

Since 1978, Vasaloppet is included in the Worldloppet Ski Federation, a series of long-distance cross-country skiing races. In 2006, the Vasaloppet was included in the FIS Cross-Country World Cup; a large complement of World Cup racers joined the men's field for the full 90 km distance. Owing to the distance—40 km longer than the longest race usually skied in the World Cup— the race was again dominated by long-distance specialists rather than World Cup racers.

According to Wikipedia