Hi,
I might be spending some time in Scandinavia next year, so hoping to also find A races / season highlights over there.
Generally looking for either MTB marathons or gravel races - my initial Google searches were not very helpful, so hoping the Scandinavian hive mind here can help / point me in the right direction.
I’ve found the Offroad Finnmark in Norway and FNLD GRVL, but would prefer one day MTB races.
Thanks in advance!
One of the guys in my local (Norwegian) cycling club is trying to boost participation in a bunch of off-road races:
That Birkebeiner race in particular is a huge deal up here, lots of disciplines and distances represented:
Which time period are you looking at, and where in Scandinavia will you be based?
What bike do you ride and what terrain do you prefer?
In Norway we don’t have that many gravel races, but some mtb races which in reality is gravel races.
For real MTB races I would look at Terrengsykkelrittet, Oslo early June
off-road Valdres, Fagernes early July-ish
Furusjøen rundt, Kvam. Mid July
Off road Finnmark, Alta. Several distances and two dates, both late July.
Ultrabirken, Lillehammer late august.
For gravely mtb races look at
Grensesrittet, Halden august
Birkebeinerittet (Birken), late august
Both of these have all-road classes where you can ride with curly bars but most will ride a 29 hard tail.
In addition to this the swedish race Cykelvasan is a big thing taking place in mid august.
In addition, the Norwegian mtb forum www.terrengsykkelforumet.no will be of good help for you. You can post in English
The category “Ritt og arrengementer» will be the right subforum to answer these questions
The Nordic gravel series 2023 calendar will be released later in October.
Thanks, great starting point and I’ll poke around some more in the group to find more events!
Preferably before September, from the events I saw so far probably June-August? The earlier in the year, the better. I don’t have a fixed plan yet, so all countries are on the table (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden).
Road/MTB are the bikes I’ll take probably - I’m happy with most offroad formats (singletrack, fireroads, gravel), so flexible in that regard.
Thanks a lot for the recommendations, looking through them so far looking good!
Awesome, probably won’t be able to make all events but might pick and choose a few of those 
Any recommendations for places to look more for Danish/Swedish races?
The classic ski race course by bike.
Whole bunch of gravel events mostly in Sweden
Dirty Jutland is one of the premier gravel fondos in Denmark, with three different routes along the westcoast of Jutland: https://www.dirtyjutland.com. Happens in the end of April - three different distances (the 2022 edition was 130, 220 or 440 km).
Looks like an amazing route. Hope for wind in the right direction 
That indeed looks amazing - didn’t expect a race this early in the year, but might be the first one I sign up for
2022 was headwind all the way, fun event though 
In Sweden you have the MTB races that form långloppscupen (long races cup).
About seven one day races in various places spread out during the season. The races for 2023 are not set yet but they are probably similar as 2022.
Biggest race in sweden is Vasaloppet - Cykelvasan 90 but you also find races in the swedish national calender. http://www.swecyclingonline.se/
Do this press:
Avancerad sök (advance search)
press TÄVLINGSKATEGORI (category)
Choose between
Or choose Mountainbike under “Gren” and then discaplin (xcm, xcc and so on).
But you might need a license to participate.
Nordic Gravel Series has two races in July, 180 km in Uppsala, Sweden and 170 km in Jyväskylä, Finland. I assume Jyväskylä’s event is partially on same roads as WRC rally, which means speed https://www.velonews.com/news/gravel/nordic-gravel-series-releases-2023-calendar/